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 numerous architecture awards and an influential educator, his portfolio comprises a multitude of houses, school, apartment buildings, theater sets, museums, furniture (like his “Paulistano” chair), and urban projects around Sao Paulo, where he is still based. 

Previously:

Phyllis Lambert named as 2014 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipient

Toyo Ito, among others, announced as Golden Lion Winners at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale