Brazilian Architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha to Receive Royal Gold Medal
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2016 is proving a triumphant year for Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Only weeks after having received the Praemium Imperiale, Japan’s most prestigious prize for international artists, architects and creators, and months after the Golden Lion fo
Brazilian Architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha to Receive Royal Gold Medal
2016 is proving a triumphant year for Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha. Only weeks after having received the Praemium Imperiale, Japan’s most prestigious prize for international artists, architects and creators, and months after the Golden Lion for his lifetime achievement at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) announced Mendes da Rocha as the winner of the 2017 Royal Gold Medal, the UK’s highest decoration in the field, approved by Her Majesty The Queen. After the Mies van der Rohe Prize in 2000 and the Pritzker Prize in 2006, the Brazilian architect can now pride himself of being honored with virtually all of the industry’s leading awards.Mendes da Rocha, born in 1928 in Vitória, made a name for himself with his innovative use of concrete in architecture, contributing to a Brazilian take on Brutalism alongside fellow architects such as Lina Bo Bardi, that allowed for relatively cost-efficient and quick, yet aesthetically bold and daring constructions. Active predominantly in Brazil, Mendes da Rocha created numerous cultural buildings that had a profound impact on the transformation of the city of São Paulo, speaking not only to his powerful aesthetics and sensitivity for technique and construction, but also his interest in politics, social issues, engineering and other fields beyond architecture. Among his most acclaimed buildings are the Saint Peter Chapel from 1987, a concrete and glass construction around a singular concrete column; the Brazilian Sculpture Museum MuBE from 1988, which powerfully blends interior and exterior in a landscape-like structure; the Patriach Plaza from 1992-2002; the Pinacoteca do Estado gallery from 1993; and the FIESP Cultural Center from 1997 in São Paulo, as well as outside of São Paulo, the Serra Dourada soccer stadium in Goiás from 1973, the Lady of the Conception Chapel in Recife from 2006 and the Cais das Artes arts center in Vitória from 2008 (more in the slide show).“Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s work is highly unusual in comparison to the majority of the world’s most celebrated architects,” RIBA President and chair of the selection committee Jane Duncan said this week in a statement. “He is an architect with an incredible international reputation, yet almost all his masterpieces are built exclusively in his home country. Revolutionary and transformative, Mendes da Rocha’s work typifies the architecture of 1950s Brazil—raw, chunky and beautifully ‘brutal’ concrete … a world-class architect and a true living legend.”According to the RIBA, the Royal Gold Medal will be presented to Paulo Mendes da Rocha in early 2017, following famous colleagues such as Zaha Hadid (2016), Frank Gehry (2000), Norman Foster (1983), Frank Lloyd Wright (1941), as well as Oscar Niemeyer (1998), the only other Brazilian architect to have ever received the award.To find out more about Paulo Mendes da Rocha’s work, visit the slideshow. Read more
