Architecture critic, historian, and professor Kenneth Frampton was named as the 2013 laureate for the Lisbon Triennale Lifetime Achievement Award on Dec. 15.

The award recognizes a person or practice whose work and ideas have had a lasting influence on architectural theory and practice today. This year, the Lisbon Architecture Triennale commissioned Portuguese artist Fernanda Fragateiro to design the prize.

Frampton will accept the award at a ceremony taking place at Lisbon’s Centro Cultural de Belém in early January 2014. He will also give a featured lecture at the event.



"The jury composed by Beatrice Galilee, Gonçalo Byrne, Guilherme Wisnik, Juhani Pallasmaa, Mónica Gili, Taro Igarashi and William Menking chose Kenneth Frampton for his outstanding contribution to architectural theorization and critical reflection, both as as lecturer and author of countless articles, essays and monographs.    

A graduate of the Architectural Association School of Architecture, London, Kenneth Frampton (b. 1930) is currently Ware Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, at Columbia University, New York. Having worked as an architect, architectural historian and critic, he has also taught at a number of leading institutions in the field.

In the words of Juhani Pallasmaa, 'Frampton's impact in the field of architecture exceeds that of most of the architects who have designed a lot of buildings, but not served as intellectual and ethical guides for several generations of architects and writers.'

"William Menking also highlighted the connection between Frampton and the curatorial proposal of Close, Closer, 'Most international architecture awards only recognize individuals for their built contribution rather than their importance to the culture. Giving Frampton this award makes a statement that architecture culture is not just about buildings but the larger society. (…) I think that this year’s Triennale Close, Closer could only have happened after the sort of critical thinking and architectural activism of someone like Frampton."