Biennale Architettura 2025
Image: Italian Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai © Michele Nastasi
ARCHITECTURE
Italo Rota
Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Memoriam
Italian architect and designer Italo Rota (1953 – 2024) has been awarded the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Memoriam of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia - Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. For over thirty years Italo Rota's work was centred on constant and advanced cross-disciplinary research, from contemporary art to robotics, to develop innovative projects in which humanistic beauty and sustainability became integral and disruptive elements.
The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement has been awarded to the American philosopher Donna Haraway. On the decision, Carlo Ratti stated: "Donna Haraway is one of the most influential voices in contemporary thought, straddling the social sciences, anthropology, feminist criticism, and the philosophy of technology."
Image: Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Photo by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy of 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
ARCHITECTURE
Kingdom of Bahrain
Heatwave
Golden Lion for Best National Participation
The Kingdom of Bahrain's pavilion curated by architect Andrea Faraguna won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the Biennale Architettura 2025. Named Heatwave, the pavilion stands out for addressing the pressing issue of extreme heat by showcasing passive cooling strategies using geothermal wells and solar chimneys connected via a thermo-hygrometric axis, which links underground conditions to outdoor air. The modular structure features a floor and cantilevered ceiling supported by a central column, adaptable for various urban environments.
Image: Canal Café. Photo by Marco Zorzanello. Courtesy of 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
ARCHITECTURE
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Canal Café
Golden Lion for Best Participation in the 19th Exhibition
Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.
The Golden Lion for Best Participation in the 19th Exhibition Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. was awarded to Canal Café, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky and Davide Oldani. The installation is set up to use natural filtration systems to purify water from the city's canals and make it info coffee that visitors of the Arsenale can enjoy.
About the Biennale Architettura
2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize
Image: Liu Jiakun, West Village, 2015, Chengdu, People's Republic of China. Photo courtesy of Arch-Exist.
ARCHITECTURE
Liu Jiakun
Pritzker Architecture Prize
Liu Jiakun, of Chengdu, People’s Republic of China, is the 2025 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Intertwining seeming antipodes such as utopia versus everyday existence, history versus modernity, and collectivism versus individuality, Liu offers affirming architecture that celebrates the lives of ordinary citizens. "Architecture should reveal something—it should abstract, distill and make visible the inherent qualities of local people. It has the power to shape human behavior and create atmospheres, offering a sense of serenity and poetry, evoking compassion and mercy, and cultivating a sense of shared community," expresses Liu.
About the Pritzker Architecture Prize
RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2025
Image: SANAA, New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 2007. Photo: Dean Kaufman.
ARCHITECTURE
SANAA
RIBA Royal Gold Medal
The Royal Institute of British Architects has announced that Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, founders of the practice SANAA, are the recipients of the 2025 Royal Gold Medal for architecture. The award recognises what RIBA describes as SANAA's contribution to shaping contemporary architecture through simplicity, light and refined design. RIBA has credited the practice with balancing innovation and sensitivity to local environments, stating that their approach demonstrates how architecture can be both functional and elegant while providing a sense of calm in an increasingly complex world.
About the RIBA Royal Gold Medal
RIBA Stirling Prize 2024
Image: Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation and AtkinsRéalis, Elizabeth Line, London, UK, 2022. © Hufton + Crow
ARCHITECTURE
Elizabeth Line by Grimshaw, Maynard,
Equation and AtkinsRéalis
RIBA Stirling Prize
The Elizabeth Line, London’s new transport network, designed by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation and AtkinsRéalis has been named winner of the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize for UK’s best new building. The Elizabeth Line is the result of a remarkable collaboration between architects, engineers and designers. Together they have designed a highly-inclusive, cohesive transport system that has already evidenced its social, environmental and economic value. Connecting Reading and Heathrow to Essex and South East London, the development spans 62 miles of track and 26 miles of tunnels, a complex and expansive undertaking accommodating 700,000 passengers every weekday.
2025 Jane Drew Prize for Architecture
Image: Lacaton & Vassal, Frédéric Druot, Christophe Hutin architecture, Transformation of 530 Dwellings, Bordeaux, France, 2016. © Laurian Ghinitoiu
ARCHITECTURE
Anne Lacaton
Jane Drew Prize for Architecture
Anne Lacaton has been awarded the Jane Drew Prize for Architecture 2025, an award recognising an architectural designer who, through their work and commitment, has raised the profile of women in architecture. Co-founder, with Jean-Philippe Vassal, of French firm Lacaton & Vassal, Lacaton has been instrumental in defining what it means to build responsibly in the 21st century. Often upending convention, Lacaton and Vassal are famed for their bare-bones renovation of Paris’s Palais de Tokyo and for wrapping existing housing stock in winter gardens, a move which improves the thermal performance of homes while subtly extending them.
About the Jane Drew Prize for Architecture
Grand Prix de l’Académie des beaux-arts
en architecture 2025
Image: Herzog & de Meuron, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany, 2006-2016. © Iwan Baan
ARCHITECTURE
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
Grand Prix de l’Académie des beaux-arts en architecture
The Grand Prix de l’Académie des beaux-arts en architecture was awarded to Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. After graduating, the duo founded Herzog & de Meuron in Basel in 1978, which quickly established itself as a major figure in contemporary architecture thanks to a singular approach centred on materiality and technical precision. Their work is characterised by a particularly rigorous and inventive use of building materials, notably concrete, stone and wood. Their architecture is both rational and expressive, in dialogue with its urban and cultural context.
About the Grand Prix de l’Académie des beaux-arts en architecture
2025 Créateurs Design Awards
Image: Foster + Partners, Millau Viaduct, Millau, France.
ARCHITECTURE
Lord Norman Foster
Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award
The Créateurs Design Awards announced Lord Norman Foster as the recipient of the 2025 Andrée Putman Lifetime Achievement Award. His illustrious career spans over five decades, marked by iconic structures that blend artistry and engineering, pushing the boundaries of form while remaining deeply sensitive to human needs and the environment. Notable projects include The Gherkin in London, which has become a symbol of modern architecture and the Reichstag in Berlin, where his sensitive restoration revitalized a historic landmark while integrating cutting-edge technology.
Image: SANAA, Sydney Modern Museum, Sydney, Australia, 2022. Photo: Iwan Baan.
ARCHITECTURE
SANAA
Le Prix Charlotte Perriand
The Créateurs Design Awards announced SANAA’s Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa as recipients of the 2025 Le Prix Charlotte Perriand. This honor recognizes their unparalleled contributions to modern architecture and design, further solidifying their legacy as visionary leaders in the field. SANAA is at the forefront of architectural innovation, renowned for its minimalist yet profound designs that harmoniously blend form, function and environment, resulting in numerous commissions and buildings around the world – including Sydney Modern, La Samaritaine in Paris, Louvre Lens and Grace Farms in the USA.
About the Créateurs Design Awards
2025 AIA Gold Medal
Image: TenBerke, Richardson Olmsted Complex, Adaptive Reuse Project, Buffalo, NY, 2017. © Christopher Payne/Esto
ARCHITECTURE
Deborah Berke
AIA Gold Medal
New York-based architect and educator Deborah Berke is the recipient of the 2025 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal. Deborah Berke is a transformative figure in architecture whose career spans over four decades. From founding her practice, Deborah Berke Partners (now TenBerke), in 1982, to becoming the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture, her journey exemplifies innovation, inclusivity and sustainability. Her practice has consistently prioritized adaptive reuse, transforming historic structures into vibrant, functional spaces. Projects like the 122 Community Arts Center in New York and the Richardson Olmsted Complex in Buffalo illustrate her dedication to preserving and enhancing architectural heritage.
