'cctv headquarters' by OMA in beijing, china (2002)
image © OMA


the golden lion for lifetime achievement for the 12th international architecture exhibition
has been awarded to the dutch architect, rem koolhaas. the decision was taken by the board
of the biennale di venezia, chaired by paolo baratta, upon the proposal of the director of
the 12th exhibition, kazuyo sejima.

'rem koolhaas has expanded the possibilities of architecture. he has focused on the exchanges
between people in space. he creates buildings that bring people together and in this way
forms ambitious goals for architecture. his influence on the world has come well beyond
architecture. people from very diverse fields feel a great freedom from his work.' - kazuyo sejima

over his career, rem koolhaas - together with elia and zoe zenghelis and madelon vriesendorp - founded
oma (office for metropolitan architecture). the most important works by koolhaas and oma
include the netherlands dance theatre at the hague, the nexus housing at fukuoka in japan,
the kunsthal in rotterdam, the grand palais of euralille and lille, the villa dall'ava, the très grande
bibliothèque and the seattle public library. together with koolhaas's reflections on contemporary society,
these buildings appear in his book 's,m,l,xl', written as though it were a 'novel about architecture'.
in 1978, he wrote delirious new york: a retroactive manifesto for manhattan, which has become
a classic of contemporary architectural theory. in 2000, he won the pritzker prize.



'kunsthal' in rotterdam, netherlands (1992)
image © OMA



'nexus world housing' in fukuoka, japan (1991)
image © hiroyuki kawano and OMA



'seoul national university museum of art' in seoul, south korea (2005)
image © philippe ruault and OMA



'leeum museum' in seoul, south korea (2004)
image © christian richters and OMA



'musee national des beaux-arts du quebec' in quebec city, canada (design development, 2010)
image © luxigon and OMA



rem koolhaas
image courtesy of biennale di venezia