Brazil's acclaimed architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha has received the most prestigious award the 2017 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for architecture that has been announced today by The Brisitish Institute of Architects (RIBA). This is not the first prize given to the world-class architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha, the architect also won the Praemium Imperiale prize and the Venice Architecture Biennale Golden Lion, announced earlier this year.

Paulo Mendes da Rocha, born in Brazil in 1928, is undoubtedly a master-class architect who made a significant contribution to Brazilian architecture with his 'timeless', expansive and concrete bold and innovative buildings. 

Mendes da Rocha. Image courtesy of RIBA

Mendes da Rocha’s numerous notable cultural buildings, built in his particular Brazilian Brutalist style -reflecting itself as exposed concrete structures and rough finishes, are widely credited with transforming the city of São Paulo. 

The completed his first celebrated building in 1957, the Athletic Club of São Paulo, followed by a large number of further public buildings in the city including Saint Peter Chapel (1987), the Brazilian Sculpture Museum MuBE (1988), Patriach Plaza (1992-2002), the Pinacoteca do Estado gallery (1993) and the FIESP Cultural Center (1997). Outside São Paulo, notable buildings include the Serra Dourada football stadium in Goiás (1973), Lady of the Conception Chapel in Recife (2006) and Cais das Artes arts centre in Vitória (2008).

Here's a mesmerizing portfolio about the architect's projects in Brazil and they're still timeless, inspiring and innovative in each detail that can be fostering for the young generation architects. 

Casa Butantã, São Paulo, 1964. Image © Annette Spiro

Capela de São Pedro interior, São Paulo, 1989. Image © Cristiano Mascaro

Centro Cultural FIESP, 2009 (with MMBB Arquitetos). Image © Nelson Kon

Athletic Club, São Paulo, 1961. Image courtesy of PMDR archive

Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (MuBE), São Paulo, 1988. Image © Nelson Kon

Museu Brasileiro da Escultura (MuBE), São Paulo, 1988. Image © Nelson Kon

Museu dos Coches, Lisboa, Portugal, 2015 (with MMBB Arquitetos, Bak Gordon Arquitectos). Image © Armenio Teixeira

Patriarch Plaza, São Paulo, 2002 (with Eduardo Colonelli). Image © Nelson Kon

Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo, 1993 (with Eduardo Colonelli). Image © Nelson Kon

Pinacoteca do Estado, São Paulo, 1993 (with Eduardo Colonelli). Image © Nelson Kon

Top image: Capela de São Pedro exterior, São Paulo, 1989. Image © Cristiano Mascaro