Daylight Architect Honored With EUR100,000 Award

COPENHAGEN, March 1, 2010 - James Carpenter, the New York-based architect, sculptor and designer of
daylight, is this year's recipient of the VILLUM and VELUX FOUNDATION'S
Daylight and Building Component Award. Carpenter played an important role in
the design of 7 WTC, the first building to rise at Ground Zero since the
attacks of September 11, 2001.

Carpenter, 59, will receive the award and a grant of EUR100,000 at a
ceremony on March 2, 2010, in Hoersholm, a suburb of Copenhagen. The award,
which includes one of the largest monetary grants of its kind, honors
Carpenter for his lifelong design work in enhancing the urban environment
with daylight and other natural phenomena.

"James Carpenter is one of the few who clearly strives for a link between
the measurable and the immeasurable, nature and architecture," says Bjarne
Thomsen, Chairman for the award committee. "In this manner his works serve as
inspiration for many as they introduce strokes of new direction, content and
clear technological know-how to the art and science of daylight and
architecture."

These strokes of Carpenter's work are particularly evident in New York
City, where he has helped bring nature to the urban environment through some
of the most ambitious building projects in that city's recent history. In
addition to his work on the podium wall at 7 WTC, Carpenter also designed the
cable net wall in the atrium of at the Time Warner Building, devising the
solution that makes it possible for guests of Jazz at Lincoln Center to look
out over 59th street and the treetops of Central Park, unhindered by the
noise of the busy street sounds of Columbus Circle.

Carpenter, who is educated as a sculptor from the Rhode Island School of
Design, is a unique blend of artist, engineer and architect. His vast
experience in working with building materials and being able to bring them to
life in an artistic way has earned awards ranging from a MacArthur Fellowship
to numerous honors from consulting engineers for his technical work.

"Designing buildings is not the normal terrain for a sculptor, but
sculpture does something that architecture often doesn't and that is to
engage the phenomenological qualities of its environment. And here light is
one of the primary materials I use to accomplish that task," says Carpenter.
"Like any good artist, it is important that I have a solid understanding of
materials."

Carpenter's diverse skills have also led to collaborations with some of
the world's most renowned architects including Norman Foster, Richard Meier
and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He also works as lead architect on several
projects, including the current redesign of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem
which is set to open.

"My own interests have always been diverse: materials, fine arts,
engineering. That makes the work we do today unique - it is highly technical
but it always starts with the poetics: what is the idea? And how do you
engage people? What is the phenomenology of the environment you are working
with?"

About the Daylight and Building Component Award:

The award is given by the VELUX Foundations, a group of non-profit
foundations established in 1971 by the civil engineer and inventor Villum
Kann Rasmussen who developed the modern roof window. His roof window opened a
new world of architectural possibilities for using daylight and fresh air,
and based on this invention, Rasmussen laid the foundation for the modern
roof window company, VELUX. The award is given annually to an architect,
researcher or artist for their work with daylight design or contribution to
the science of or awareness and interest in daylighting.

For more information on the award, please contact: Ane Hendriksen,
VILLUM FOUNDTAION and VELUX FOUNDTION, +45-39-57-09-85 or ahd@veluxfondene.dk

For information on James Carpenter, please contact: Ben Colebrook, JCDA
Design Associates, +1-212-431-4318 or ben.colebrook@jcdainc.com

For more information on the award, please contact: Ane Hendriksen, VILLUM FOUNDTAION and VELUX FOUNDTION, +45-39-57-09-85 or ahd at veluxfondene.dk; For information on James Carpenter, please contact: Ben Colebrook, JCDA Design Associates, +1-212-431-4318 or ben.colebrook at jcdainc.com