The members of the Jury for the 1989 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, José Luis Borau, Julián Gallego, Rosina Gómez-Baeza, Carmen Giménez, Tomás Llorens, Manuel Martín Ferrand, Miguel de Oriol e Ybarra, Manuel Rivera, Manuel Sastrústregui, and Eduardo Subirats gathered in Oviedo on the 11th and 12th of May, 1989 under the presidency of Antonio Pedrol Ríus and with Manuel Fernández acting as secretary, have agreed to grant this award to the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Oscar Niemeyer has been one of the pioneers of the International Modern Movement and is one of the most outstanding Latin-American architects of the 20th century. In his works he has been capable of combining the sensual spaces and poetic values which define Brazilian culture with functionalist rationalism. During his whole life he has maintained a clear social commitment. His last great work, the 'Memorial to Latin America', recently opened in Sao Paulo, combines with its beauty a project of integration of the cultures of Latin America.