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Golden Lion: The Latest Architecture and News

Brazil Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

The Brazilian Pavilion titled Terra [Earth], curated by Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Selected by a jury comprising Italian architect and curator Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli as president, Nora Akawi, Thelma Golden, Tau Tavengwa, and Izabela Wieczorek, the winning intervention at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale "proposes to rethink the past in order to design possible futures, bringing to the fore actors forgotten by the architectural canons, in dialogue with the curatorship of the edition, Laboratory of the Future".

Broadcasted live on the Biennale’s official page, the ceremony taking place at Ca’Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale di Venezia, also awarded the Golden Lion for Best Participant in the International Exhibition The Laboratory of the Future", to DAAR (Alessandro Petti + Sandi Hilal), while the Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition The Laboratory of the Future went to Olalekan Jeyifous. Other recognitions included a special mention to Thandi Loewenson, to Wolff Architects, Ilze Wolff, and Heinrich Wolff, to Twenty Nine Studio / Sammy Baloji, and to the national pavilion of Great Britain, titled "Dancing Before the Moon" curated by Jayden Ali, Joseph Henry, Meneesha Kellay, and Sumitra Upham.

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The 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale Opens to the Public on May 20th

The 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, titled The Laboratory of the Future, will hold its official inauguration on Saturday, May 20th, and will remain open to the public until November 26th, 2023. The pre-opening events happening on May 18th and 19th include the awards ceremony, during which an international jury led by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli as president will award the official prizes: Golden Lion for best National Participation, Golden Lion for best participant, and Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the biennale. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement will be awarded to Demas Nwoko, Nigerian-born artist, designer, and architect, during the inauguration ceremony on May 20th.

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International Jury of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 Announced with Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli Appointed as President

Deliberated by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia and upon recommendation by Curator Lesley Lokko, the International Jury of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, which will open on the 20th of May 2023, and will run until the 26th of November, 2023, has been selected. The 2023 jury will include Italian architect and curator Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli as president, Palestinian architect and curator, Nora Akawi, American director and curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, Thelma Golden, South-African founder and co-editor of Cityscapes Magazine, Tau Tavengwa; and Polish Izabela Wieczorek, architect in Spain and a researcher and educator based in London.

The International Jury will award the "Golden Lion for Best National Participation", the "Golden Lion for the best participant in the International Exhibition The Laboratory of the Future", as well as the "Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition The Laboratory of the Future". The Jury may also award a maximum of one special mention to a National Participation, and a maximum of two special mentions to the participants in the International Exhibition The Laboratory of the Future. The announcements and awards ceremony will take place in Venice on Saturday, May 20th, 2023.

Demas Nwoko Receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 2023 Venice Biennale

Nigerian-born artist, designer, and architect Demas Nwoko is the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia entitled The Laboratory of the Future. The decision was taken at the recommendation of the exhibition curator, Lesley Lokko, and was approved by La Biennale’s Board of Directors chaired by Roberto Cicutto. The awards ceremony will be part of the inauguration of the 18th Exhibition and will be held on May 20th, 2023, at Ca’Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale di Venezia.

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UAE / Wetland Wins the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Biennale

The United Arab Emirates has won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 2021 Venice Biennale, with its contribution entitled Wetland curated by Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto. Selected by a jury that consists of Kazuyo Sejima (president-Japan), Sandra Barclay (Peru), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland), and Luca Molinari (Italy), the winning contribution at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale explores the local geography of the United Arab Emirates to find alternatives to cement, one of the key emitters of the world's carbon dioxide.

The award ceremony, broadcasted live on the Biennale’s official page also presented the Golden Lion for Best Participant in the International Exhibition How will we live together? to RAUMLABORBERLIN- Instances of Urban Practice while the Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition How will we live together? went to Border Ecologies and the Gaza Strip- Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST). Other recognitions included a special mention for the national participation of the Philippines and Russia, and to Cave_bureau for the Anthropocene Museum: Exhibit 3.0 Obsidian Rain.

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Kazuyo Sejima Appointed as President of the International Jury of the Biennale Architettura 2021

The Board of Directors of the 2021 Venice Biennale has appointed Kazuyo Sejima as president of the international jury, in charge of awarding mainly the Golden Lion for Best National Participation, the Golden Lion for the Best participant, and the Silver Lion for a promising young participant. In addition, they have also selected four other jury members from Peru, Lebanon, Ghana-Scotland, and Italy. The Awards Ceremony will take place in Venice on Monday, August 30th, 2021.

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Rafael Moneo Receives the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 2021 Venice Biennale

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia was awarded to Spanish architect, educator, critic, and theoretician Rafael Moneo. Selected by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, upon recommendation of the Curator of the Biennale Architettura 2021, Hashim Sarkis, the acknowledgment will be awarded to the architect on Saturday, May 22nd, 2021 together with the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in memoriam to Lina Bo Bardi.

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Lina Bo Bardi Wins Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Memoriam

Lina Bo Bardi, one of the most important architects of Brazilian architecture, was selected as the recipient of the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in memoriam of the Venice Biennale 2021 (also known as the Biennale Architettura 2021), which will open to the public on Saturday, May 22nd, 2021.

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"Svizzera 240: House Tour": The Swiss Pavilion, Winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale 2018

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the completed Swiss Pavilion. To read the initial proposal, refer to our previously published post, "Swiss Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale Celebrates Peculiar Form of Architectural Representation."

Honored by this year’s jury as the winner of the Golden Lion for best national participation, the Swiss Pavilion actively defies conventional representation while exploring a specific point of contact between architecture and society: the house tour.

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Kenneth Frampton Awarded Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at 2018 Venice Biennale

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Kenneth Frampton. Image Courtesy of The Venice Biennale

British architect, historian, critic and educator Kenneth Frampton has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2018 Venice Biennale. The decision was made by the Board of The Venice Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta, upon recommendation from the Biennale’s curators, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects.

Having studied at the Architectural Association in London, Frampton has taught at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York since 1972. He has also lectured at several leading institutions, including ETH Zurich, the Royal College of Art in London, and the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam. Perhaps his most influential work, “Modern Architecture: A Critical History,” was described by Biennale President Paulo Baratta as a book which “no student of the faculties of architecture is unfamiliar with.”

Jury Members for the 2016 Venice Biennale Revealed

The Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, upon recommendation from Alejandro Aravena, have announced the jury for the forthcoming Venice Biennale who will award the Golden Lion for Best National Participation, the Golden Lion for Best Participant in the International Exhibition Reporting From the Front, and the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Participant in the International Exhibition Reporting From the Front. They will also have the opportunity to award one special mention to National Participations and two special mentions to the participants in the International Exhibition.

Paulo Mendes da Rocha Awarded Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

The Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia, upon recommendation from Alejandro Aravena, have announced the Brazilian Pritzker Prize-winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha as the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, Reporting From the Front. Citing the "timelessness" of his work "both physically and stylistically" as "the most striking attribute of his architecture," the board have also stated that "this astonishing consistency may be the consequence of his ideological integrity and structural genius."

Help Save Odile Decq’s BPO Building From Being Demolished

Designed by Odile Decq and Benoit Cornette, the BPO Building in Montgermont, France is now being threatened by a demolition permit. Inaugurated in 1990 and having won no less than 12 awards in its lifetime - including a Golden Lion at the 1996 Venice Biennale - the building has been widely lauded for its technical innovations, including a double-glazed suspended façade and panoramic elevators. It has appeared as the focus of theses internationally, and is featured at the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine and Palais de Chaillot, illustrating its pivotal role in architectural growth. It was one of the first buildings in the 90s to demonstrate an acute response to the quality of workplaces, and stands as an example of conscious, thoughtful design.

Interview: Phyllis Lambert on Winning the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement

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Phyllis Lambert, 1959, during her studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Image Courtesy of Ed Duckett

“Architects make architecture; Phyllis Lambert made architects,” Rem Koolhaas said of his decision to award Phyllis Lambert with this year’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale. In an interview published on iconeye.com, the website for Icon Magazine, the 87-year-old founding director of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) discusses her career, Mies van der Rohe, and the state of contemporary architecture with the editor of Icon, Christopher Turner. Read on to learn about her influential life in architecture.

Congratulations on your Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. How did you learn that you'd been awarded the honour?

Thank you very much. I got a phone call from the curator, Rem Koolhaas, telling me and I had to wait for weeks as it went before the board, unable to tell anybody – then I got an official letter. Isn't it wonderful?

Phyllis Lambert to Receive Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice Biennale

The Venice Biennale has just announced that Phyllis Lambert will be the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition Fundamentals this June.

Paolo Baratta, chair of the Venice Biennale Board, and Rem Koolhaas, director of the Architecture Biennale, explained their decision:

“Not as an architect, but as a client and custodian, Phyllis Lambert has made a huge contribution to architecture. Without her participation, one of the few realizations in the 20th century of perfection on earth – the Seagram Building in New York – would not have happened. Her creation of the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal combines rare vision with rare generosity to preserve crucial episodes of architecture’s heritage and to study them under ideal conditions. Architects make architecture; Phyllis Lambert made architects…”

More on Lambert's life and influence after the break: