Rem Koolhaas

The jury of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, formed by Beatriz Colomina, Francesco Dal Co, Joseph Grima, Arata Isozaki, Moritz Küng and Trinh T. Minh-ha, conferred the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Rem Koolhaas. Kazuyo Sejima, director of this edition, stated that “Koolhaas has expanded the possibilities of architecture. He has focused on the exchanges between people in space”, and has highlighted his influence on very different fields, other than architecture. Koolhaas played a leading role in this edition for three reasons: the mentioned prize; the exhibition ‘Preservation’, organized by his office OMA and centered on the Western obsession for the conservation of heritage; and the announcement that this same office will transform the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, a Renaissance building property of the Benetton family, into a commercial and cultural center. Other awards went to the pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrein, which received the Golden Lion for best national participation, and to the installation by the Japanese Junya Ishigami, Golden Lion to the best project.