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Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Italy Architecture News - May 23, 2023 - 13:00   1383 views

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

The Brazil Pavilion and Palestine-based architecture studio DAAR have been awarded Golden Lions at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale for the best national participation and participant in the 18th exhibition, The Laboratory of the Future.

The awards were presented at the awards ceremony on Sunday May 20th, 2023 at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of Venice Architecture Biennale.

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Image © Matteo de Mayda, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

The international jury of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition is composed by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, the president of the jury, the Palestinian architect and curator Nora Akawi, the American director and curator of The Studio Museum di Harlem Thelma Golden, the South-African founder and co-editor of Cityscapes Magazine, Tau Tavengwa, the Polish Izabela Wieczorek, architect in Spain and a researcher and educator based in London.

The Brazil Pavilion was awarded for the best National Participation for its Terra [Earth]. The international jury awarded the pavilion for "a research exhibition and architectural intervention that center the philosophies and imaginaries of indigenous and black population towards modes of reparation."

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

DAAR won the Golden Lion for the best Participant in The Laboratory of the Future. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

Curated by the architects Gabriela de Matos and Paulo Tavares, Terra (or Earth) aimed "to propose to rethink the past in order to design and imagine possible futures, bringing to the fore actors forgotten by the architectural canons."

On the other hand, DAAR, led by Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal, won the Golden Lion for the best Participant in The Laboratory of the Future. 

DAAR was awarded for "their long-standing commitment to deep political engagement with architectural and learning practices of decolonization in Palestine and Europe."

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

The Brazil Pavilion was awarded for the best National Participation for its Terra [Earth]. Image © Matteo de Mayda, La Biennale di Venezia

The British Pavilion, Dancing Before the Moon, was awarded for Special Mention for National Participation. The British Pavilion was awarded "for the curatorial strategy and design propositions celebrating the potency of everyday rituals as forms of resistance and spatial practices in diasporic communities."

The jury has decided to give three special mentions to the following participants: Twenty Nine Studio / Sammy Baloji, Wolff Architects and Thandi Loewenson.

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Special Mention went to Wolff Architects. Image © Marco Zorzanello, La Biennale di Venezia

Sammy Baloji was awarded for "a three parts installation that interrogates the past, present, and future of the Democratic Republic of Congo, through an excavation of colonial architectural archives."

Wolff Architects was awarded "for an installation that reflects a collaborative and multimodal design practice as well as a nuanced and imaginative approach to resources, research, and representation."

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

The Brazil Pavilion was awarded for the best National Participation for its Terra [Earth]. Image © Marco Zorzanello, La Biennale di Venezia

Thandi Loewenson was awarded "for a militant research practice that materializes spatial histories of land struggles, extraction, and liberation through the medium of graphite and speculative writing as design tools."

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

The Silver Lion winner, Olalekan Jeyifous. Image © Matteo de Mayda, La Biennale di Venezia

The Silver Lion for a promising young participant went to Olalekan Jeyifous for a multimedia installation that explores a worldbuilding practice that expands public perspectives and imaginations, offering visions of a decolonized and decarbonized future.

Brazil and DAAR win Golden Lions at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Demas Nwoko, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Image © Andrea Avezzu, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia

Nigerian born artist, designer and architect Demas Nwoko was named as the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition. 

The acknowledgment was recommended by Lesley Lokko, curator of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, and approved by the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia.

The theme of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale is The Laboratory of the Future curated by Lesley Lokko.

The Venice Architecture Biennale 2023 is taking place from Saturday 20 May to Sunday 26 November, 2023 at the Arsenale and Giardini venues.

Top image: The Brazil Pavilion was awarded for the best National Participation for its Terra [Earth]. Image © Matteo de Mayda, La Biennale di Venezia. 

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