COPEHNAGEN—Italian architect Renzo Piano has been named the winner of the 2008 Sonnignprisen, Denmark's most prestigious culture award, reports the Agence France-Presse.

The £134,000 ($193,000) prize is awarded each year by the University of Copenhagen in recognition of exceptional work showcasing European culture.

The jury called Piano's work, which includes the Paul Klee museum in Bern, the "Parco della Musica" auditorium in Rome, and the renovation of the Morgan Library in New York,  "an extraordinary and remarkable combination of art, architecture and artistic engineering."