Zaha Hadid beats off five other nominations to scoop 拢20k prize

Zaha Hadid鈥檚 Maxxi Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome has scooped this year鈥檚 拢20,000 Stirling Prize.

Hadid beat off competition from five other nominations including two other museums - the Neues Museum in Berlin by David Chipperfield Architects and Oxford鈥檚 Ashmolean Museum by Rick Mather.

The award, which is in its 15th year, was presented at a ceremony in the Roundhouse, north London. Maxxi was an early favourite to win the prize, the judges said: 鈥淭his is a mature piece of architecture, the distillation of years of experimentation, only a fraction of which ever got built.

鈥淚t is the quintessence of Zaha鈥檚 constant attempt to create a landscape as a series of cavernous spaces drawn with a free, roving line. The resulting piece, rather than prescribing routes, gives the visitor a sense of exploration. It is perhaps her best work to date鈥.

The Maxxi is the first Italian public museum devoted to contemporary art and architecture. The striking design comprises of a series of jutting concrete and glass boxes while inside it is daylit by a plethora of skylights.

The Ashmolean Museum won the public vote, gaining 43.3% of the votes, while the Neues Museum came in a second with 24.1%. Hadid鈥檚 Maxxi museum was third.

As well as de Rijke Marsh Morgan鈥檚 Clapham Manor primary school in south west London the two others on the shortlist were Batemans Row, a live/work development in east London by Theis and Khan Architects and Christ鈥檚 College School in Guildford鈥╞y DSDHA.