President Sarkozy has appointed Mike Davies a Chevalier of the Order of the Légion d'honneur.

The Légion d'honneur is France's highest civil order, and is awarded to people of all backgrounds and nationalities who have made significant achievements during careers lasting 20 years or more.

Mike was part of the Piano + Rogers team that worked on the Centre Pompidou in Paris from 1971-77 and was project architect on the neighbouring IRCAM building. He was one of the founding partners of Richard Rogers Partnership – now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners – with which he has worked on a range of architectural and masterplanning projects around the world. Recently he has been leading the practice’s proposals for Grand Paris, looking at the future of the French capital as an integrated metropolitan region and looking to develop a more humane, responsive and ecologically sensitive Paris for the 21st Century.

Mike Davies said: "Our Grand Paris studies proposed the concept, the principal elements and priorities of an integrated Parisian metropolis as a sustainable replacement to the currently disparate political, geographical and operational regimes. Alongside architecture, a passion for urban design and city life has always informed the work of the practice from the design for the Centre Pompidou and its surrounding urban realm to our larger multi-disciplinary metropolitan overview of Paris today, driven by global environmental challenges. The initial Grand Paris proposals, now part of an ongoing metropolitan project, were the result of a rich collaboration between Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, LSE and Arup. This award acknowledges the collaborative spirit and the strong cultural ties that the practice has developed with France as a result of our many French projects – as well as the tireless support of a truly international French wife!  It is in this light that I am honoured to accept the award.”