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The 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale reveals its International Jury selection

2023-05-09T15:28:00-04:00

The international jury for this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale has been announced by the fair’s Board of Directors in advance of its May 20th opening.

The 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be judged by the Italian architect and curator Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli (who will serve as President of the jury); Palestinian architect and curator Nora Akawi; &South-African Cityscapes co-founder, curator, and editor Tau Tavengwa; Spain- and London-based Polish academic Izabela Wieczorek; and Studio Museum in Harlem Director Thelma Golden.

They were each recommended by the Exhibition’s curator, the African Futures Institute founder Lesley Lokko, and will be tasked with judging the Golden Lion for best National Participation; the Golden Lion for best participant in the International Exhibition; and the Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition, in addition to a potential special mention to National Participations and up to two for partic...

Demas Nwoko receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement Award

2023-03-27T13:59:00-04:00

Multitalented Nigerian architect, sculptor, and designer Demas Nwoko is named the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Venice Biennale in recognition of what curator Lesley Lokko described as the “polyglot nature of his talents and oeuvres and to the rather narrow interpretation of the word ‘architect’ that has arguably kept his name out of the annals.”

Nwoko's work was also commended by Lokko for his polymath abilities and commitment to sustainability, adding: “Although relatively few, Nwoko’s buildings in Nigeria fulfill two critical roles. They are forerunners of the sustainable, resource-mindful, and culturally authentic forms of expression now sweeping across the African continent — and the globe — and they point towards the future, no mean achievement for someone whose work is still largely unknown, even at home.”

Nwoko was born in the rural town of Idumuje-Ugboko and was educated at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science, and Technology. One of the orig...

UAE awarded Golden Lion for Best Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale

2021-08-30T15:45:00-04:00

The United Arab Emirates has been awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. The pavilion, titled “Wetland,” was curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto and demonstrates the potential of natural salt as an alternative to Portland cement.

“Prior to the pandemic, we started looking into sabkhas, a sturdy ecosystem of natural salt flats nascent to the United Arab Emirates,” the curators explained. “This inspired us to explore a renewable resource for construction, one that can replace Portland cement. The crystallisation of salt in the sabkhas offers a blueprint for an alternative to Portland cement, the production of which accounts for 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.”

Philippines Pavilion. Photo: Andrea Avezzù

The pavilion was selected by an international jury composed of Kazuyo Sejima (president, Japan), Sandra Barclay (Peru), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland), and Luca Molinari (Italy). In their ...

Rafael Moneo awarded Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

2021-04-28T17:00:00-04:00

Famed Spanish architect, educator, critic, and theoretician Rafael Moneo is the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. His illustrious career is comprised of several projects like the transformation of the Villahermosa Palace into the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the Kursaal Auditorium, the Los Angeles Cathedral, and his involvement in the Giudecca housing project of 1983. Hashim Sarkis, 2021 curator of the 17th Biennale Architettura, shares, "Rafael Moneo is one of the most transformative architects of his generation."

After graduating from the Escuela Técnica Superior of Madrid in 1961 Moneo soon worked for architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza from 1958-61 and Jørn Utzon from 1961-62. He was awarded a fellowship at the Spanish Academy in Rome and soon opened his own office in Madrid while teaching at the Escuela Técnica Superior.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels, 2002 Los Angeles. Courtesy of Rafael Moneo Architects, photo © Michael Moran

Rafael Moneo: Murcia City ...

She exemplified 'the perseverance of the architect,' Lina Bo Bardi awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

2021-03-10T16:30:00-05:00

The late Lina Bo Bardi is a prolific architect, designer, editor, and curator. Even after her passing, her work continues to be an example for others to take note of. Her legacy reminds the industry that at the center of design is bringing communities together. Hashim Sarkis, 2021 curator of the 17th Biennale Architettura, stated, "it is her powerful buildings that stand out in their design and in the way that they bring architecture, nature, living, and community together. In her hands, architecture becomes truly a convening social art."

Familiar with her impactful career spanning decades of iconic work, it was no surprise that the famed multi-talented architect had been awarded the Special Gold Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Sarkis, who recommended her for the award, shared, "if there is one architect who embodies most fittingly the theme of the Biennale Architettura 2021, it is Lina Bo Bardi. Her career as a designer, editor, curator, and activist reminds us of the role of the a...

Kenneth Frampton wins 2018 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

2018-04-18T14:59:00-04:00

English architectural writer, critic, and educator Kenneth Frampton will receive the honorable Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement award during the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale next month. Frampton was selected by the Board of the Venice Biennale, upon recommendation of 2018 Biennale curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.

Trained as an architect at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, Frampton is the Ware Professor of Architecture at the Columbia University GSAPP, where he has taught at since 1972. Over the years, he has also taught at the Royal College of Art in London, ETH Zurich, the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam, EPFL in Lausanne, and the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio.

He has written numerous essays and books on modern and contemporary architecture, including influential titles like the “Modern Architecture: A Critical History”, “Towards a Critical Regionalism”, “Studies on Tectonic Culture”, and “A Genealogy of Modern Architecture: Compa...

Paulo Mendes da Rocha named as 2016 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement winner

2016-05-06T14:17:00-04:00

2006 Pritzker laureate Paulo Mendes da Rocha will be honored with the 2016 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement during opening day of the 2016 Venice Biennale on May 28. Upon the recommendation of Biennale Curator Alejandro Aravena, the Board of Directors decided on Mendes da Rocha's selection as the 2016 winner.

Noted by The Board of Directors as “a nonconformist challenger and passionate realist”, Mendes da Rocha was also cited for the “Timelessness” of his architecture. “Many decades after being built, each of his projects have resisted the test of time, both stylistically and physically...The role model he played for many generations of architects in Brazil, Latin America and everywhere is that of a person able to join shared and collective efforts.”

Not long after graduating from the Mackenzie Architecture School in 1954, Mendes da Rocha first gained public recognition when he won the 1957 national competition to design the Clube Atlético Paulistano gymnasium. As the winner of n...

Phyllis Lambert named as 2014 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipient

2014-05-20T15:31:00-04:00

Phyllis Lambert, Founding Director Emeritus of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, has been announced as the 2014 recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. The award comes from the upcoming Venice Biennale -- the 14th International Architecture Exhibition Fundamentals opening June 7 through Nov. 23, 2014. Aside from founding the CCA, Lambert is also widely known for commissioning the historic Seagram Building in New York to Mies van der Rohe.

Lambert was selected by the Board of la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, under Director Rem Koolhaas. She will formally accept the Golden Lion award on June 7 at 11 a.m. in the Giardini of la Biennale, during the 14th International Architecture Exhibition opening and award ceremony.

More details on Bustler.