French architect Jean Nouvel, 62, received architecture’s top honor: the Pritzker Prize. He designed the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis as well as landmark buildings in many parts of the world, including the Musée du quai Branly in Paris and the Nouvel Opera House in Lyon, among many others.

“For over 30 years Jean Nouvel has pushed architecture’s discourse and praxis to new limits,” the Pritzker jury said. “His inquisitive and agile mind propels him to take risks in each of his projects, which, regardless of varying degrees of success, have greatly expanded the vocabulary of contemporary architecture.”

The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation a living architect. It was first introduced in 1979 and is meant to take into account architecture of good quality being built around the world, not just in the United States. The prize includes $100,000 which is a tiny sum compared to what its recipients typically earn. However, the honor of receiving the Pritzker, which is sometimes referred to as "the Nobel Prize of Architecture," is much more desired.

Nouvel's current projects include a 45-story luxury condo tower in upscale Century City section of Los Angeles, California, which will apparently be named the Century City Tower. Also, Nouvel will provide the blueprints for a new 75-story tower next to the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan. His overseas projects include an important new Orchestra Hall (Philharmonie de Paris) in Paris, close to Cité de la Musique (opening in 2012), which is developed jointly with Marshall Day Acoustics Ltd.