Hillary Rodham Clinton honours British architect Andrew Freear in the Praemium Imperiale Awards

Rural Studio, led by British architect Andrew Freear, is a surprise winner of the Grant for Young Artists in the 2023 Praemium Imperiale Awards.

Director Andrew Freear congratulating Rural Studio students who will graduate from Auburn University at the annual Valediction Ceremony, Newbern, Alabama, April 2023. ©️ The Japan Art Association / The Sankei Shimbun.

Rural Studio, headed up by its Director, the English architect Andrew Freear, is a design-build architecture program run by Auburn University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture in Alabama. Founded in 1993 by Samuel Mockbee and D.K. Ruth, its guiding ambition is to help students understand social responsibility in architecture through direct involvement in construction work as well as design. Students study, live, and work in rural Alabama where they experience the impact of their work in the community.

A total of 220 projects have been built by students, including a firehouse and library in Rural Studio’s hometown of Newbern. In 2004, the Studio started the 20K Project, exploring housing prototypes that aim to be affordable, energy efficient, and resilient, while still maintaining high-quality design. In 2019, this work evolved into the faculty-led Front Porch Initiative that works with housing providers across the Southeast. In recent years, the Studio has widened its remit addressing other systemic issues, such as encouraging greater food self sufficiency and piloting a community wastewater system.

Newbern Firehouse, 2004. The first new public building in Newbern, Alabama. ©️ The Japan Art Association / The Sankei Shimbun.

The Praemium Imperiale Grant for Young Artists is a programme run by the Japan Art Association to nurture young artists and to support their work and activities. The Grant was inaugurated in 1997 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Praemium Imperiale and an annual grant of 5 million yen is given to a group or institution that encourages the involvement of young people in the arts. The selection is made by the nomination committee led by an International Advisor on a rotating basis. Hillary Rodham Clinton was the International Advisor this year.

Lord Patten of Barnes, Praemium Imperiale’s International Advisor in the UK, remarked “I’m particularly delighted with the selection of Rural Studio for the Grant for Young artists. Led by British architect, Andrew Freear, it is a powerful demonstration of the transformational power of the arts, especially when integrated into the community.”

Since 1989, the Praemium Imperiale Awards have been given annually in the categories of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music and Theatre/Film; covering fields of achievement not represented by the Nobel Prizes. Each Laureate receives an honorarium of 15 million Yen (c. £90,000). The awards are given by the Japan Art Association under the honorary patronage of HIH Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan. Previous British winners include David Hockney, Mona Hatoum, Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley, Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, David Chipperfield, Judi Dench, Anthony Caro and Tony Cragg.