The biennial World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize has been awarded to the Architectural Consortium for Hizuchi Elementary School for its restoration of Hizuchi Elementary School in Yawatahama City on Shikoku Island, Japan.

The school was severely damaged in a typhoon in 2004, a year which saw year-round typhoon activity rather than the seasonal weather phenomenon often recorded. The award will be presented on 13 November at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, followed by a free public lecture by the Architectural Consortium.

In addition to Yawatahama City, the individual members of the consortium are Hiroyuki Suzuki, professor at Aoyama Gakuin University; Kiyotada Magata, professor at Ehime Univeristy; Yoshiaki Hanada, professor at Kobe Design University; Kouichi Wada, president of Wada Architectural Design Atelier; Kazutomi Takechi, CEO of Atelier A&A Ltd.; and Mikio Koshihara, professor at the University of Tokyo.

President of the World Monuments Fund, Bonnie Burnham stated: “The international community is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of modernism in the architectural record, and this year we had more nominations for the WMF/Knoll Prize than ever before.

"The award-winning project - a humble, functional building in a small Japanese city - and the story of people coming together for its preservation - is emblematic of the important role that modern architecture can play in communities around the world.”