Junya Ishigami has become the first winner of a brand new €100,000 architecture prize.

The Japanese architect was named the inaugural winner of the confusingly named Obel Prize funded by an endowment left by Danish businessman Henrik Frode Obel.

Ishigami was the designer of this year’s Serpentine Pavilion, a commission that sparked controversy when he was accused of benefiting from unpaid interns working long hours. He later claimed everyone was paid apart from “volunteers” on work experience.

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