|
http://www.labiennale.org/en/news/architecture/en/64062.html
Richard Rogers Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement
The Board of La Biennale di Venezia, presided by Davide Croff, has
accepted the proposal by Director Richard Burdett to award the Golden
Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 10th International Architecture
Exhibition (10th September – 19th November) to Richard Rogers.
Richard Rogers has a distinguished career as architect and is
responsible for some of the most iconic buildings of the last twenty
five years including the Centre Pompidou in Paris (with Renzo Piano) and
Lloyd's of London. His career has been driven by a passion for cities as
an architect, urbanist, adviser and author, promoting the importance of
architecture in making cities more sustainable and equitable in the
context of a rapidly urbanising world.
Rogers said: “I’m passionate about cities. They are the most complex of
artefacts and many are in great need of revitalisation. I am, therefore,
extremely delighted to learn that I will be receiving the Golden Lion
for Lifetime Achievement award for my work on cities at this year’s
Venice Biennale. A lifetime is a long time - but in terms of the work
I’d still like to do, I’m already beginning to think it’s not long
enough. I would like to thank everyone - from my wonderful colleagues
and collaborators to my family - for the fantastic support they have
given to me over the years. I have long been fascinated with the concept
of sustainable cities and the role of regeneration in improving the
quality of urban life. Cities are places for the face-to-face meeting of
people, for the exchange of ideas and for trade. Creating more compact
cities through better design which responds to social and environmental
concerns is the only way we will create a more desirable form of urban
living and reverse the drift of people from cities to the countryside.
My own approach to design - and that of my architectural practice, RRP -
is guided by this idea.”
The Golden Lion will be awarded in Venice on Sunday, September 10th,
first day of the Exhibition, during a brief ceremony at the Giardini
della Biennale which will follow the official opening at 10.30 a.m.
All the other prizes of the 10th International Architecture Exhibition -
Golden Lion for the best National Participation, Golden Lion for the
best City, Golden Lion for the best the Urban Project, Special Award for
a School of Architecture, Leoni di Pietra and Premio di Architettura
Portus - will be awarded during an official ceremony on November 8th at
the Teatro alle Tese, Arsenale.
The Lord Rogers of Riverside
Richard Rogers was born in Florence, Italy in 1933. He received a
diploma in Architecture from the Architectural Association in London,
and a Masters from Yale University USA. Best known for his pioneering
buildings with Norman Foster, Renzo Piano and since 1978 with his
colleagues at the Richard Rogers Partnership, he has maintained a
lifelong commitment to the relationship between architecture, the
environment, culture and society. In parallel to his prime activity as
an architect and urban designer, he has been closely involved with many
of the UK's major arts and public organisations. He was Chairman of the
Tate Gallery from 1981 to 1989, Deputy Chairman of the Arts Council of
England from 1994 to 1997 and Chairman of The Architecture Foundation
until June 2001. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art,
New York, as well as President of The National Communities Resource Centre.
The first architect to be invited to give the BBC Reith Lectures in
1995, Rogers’ text - 'Cities for a small planet' - argued for a more
equitable and sustainable approach to the built environment, placing the
design of cities at the heart of the public and political agenda.
Richard Rogers is Chairman to the Mayor’s Design for London Group, as
well as Adviser to the Mayor of Barcelona on urban strategies.
In 1971, Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano were the winners of an
international competition for the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, a
museum, library and information centre. The building has been visited by
over 100 million people since its completion in 1976. The work of the
Richard Rogers Partnership, formed in 1977, is based on the use of
appropriate technologies to reduce energy consumption, maximising social
potential and responding to changing patterns of use and activity. The
practice has designed award-winning public and private buildings in
Europe, Asia and the USA, including Lloyd's of London (London, 1986),
Channel 4 Headquarters (London, 1994), the European Court of Human
Rights (Strasbourg, 1995), Law Courts in Bordeaux (1998), VR Techno
Plaza (Gifu, Japan, 1998), 88 Wood Street (London, 1999), the Millennium
Dome (London, 1999) and Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (London, 2000).
Recently completed projects include the new National Assembly for Wales
in Cardiff, Madrid Barajas Airport, Terminal 4 and Law Courts in
Antwerp. Current projects include Heathrow Terminal 5, the redevelopment
of a bullring in Barcelona and a 48 storey office tower in the City of
London.
The commitment to the public realm and sustainable design underpins a
series of urban masterplans in cities around the world. These include
the masterplan for Pu Dong Financial District in Shanghai, the radical
ecological proposals for ParcBIT in Majorca and visionary plans for the
centre of London, originally exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1986. In
London, the practice is author of the Greenwich Peninsula masterplan,
proposals for the Bankside masterplan adjacent to Tate Modern and
Convoys Wharf in Deptford.
Richard Rogers has published and lectured widely. He has received
numerous international awards, including the RIBA Royal Gold Medal
(1985), the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur (1986),
the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Medal In Architecture (1999)
and the Praemium Imperiale in 2000. Two key publications are 'Cities for
a small planet' (based on his BBC Reith Lectures) and ‘Cities for a
small country’ (with Professor Ann Power). In 1991 he was knighted by
H.M. The Queen for his contributions to architecture. He was made a life
peer in 1996.
In 1998 Richard Rogers was commissioned by the UK government to chair
the Urban Task Force and in June 1999 his team published a report,
‘Towards an Urban Renaissance’, containing wide-ranging proposals for
urban regeneration in the UK. Many of these recommendations were
incorporated in the Government’s Urban White Paper, announced in
November 2000. The Urban Summit, held in London in November 2002,
focused on key issues raised in the UTF Report.