kazuyo sejima to chair international jury at 2021 venice architecture biennale

upon the recommendation of curator hashim sarkis, the board of directors of la biennale di venezia has appointed the international jury of the 2021 venice architecture biennale. chaired by japanese architect kazuyo sejima, the jury will award the event’s official prizes, which include: the golden lion for best national participation; the golden lion for best participant in the main exhibition ‘how will we live together?’; and the silver lion for a promising young participant in the same exhibit. the jury may also award a maximum of one special mention to national participations, and a maximum of two special mentions to the participants of the main exhibition.

sandra barclay, image by jean pierre crousse | main image: kazuyo sejima, image by aiko suzuki

the international jury for the 17th international architecture exhibition will be chaired by its president, kazuyo sejima, who curated the 2010 venice biennale and won the pritzker prize, alongside ryue nishizawa, in the same year. sejima is distinguished by her commitment to architectural form as the field’s primary domain of intervention in the social and spatial realms. the japanese architect is joined by sandra barclay, the architect who was the co-curator for the peruvian pavilion at the 2016 architecture biennale — winning a ‘special mention’ from the jury.

lamia joreige | image by polly thomas

also on the jury is lamia joreige, a visual artist and filmmaker who is co-founder and co-director of the beirut art center, and lesley lokko, an architect and writer who was the founder and director of the graduate school of architecture of the university of johannesburg (2014-2019) and dean of the spitzer school of architecture city college of new york (2019-2021). luca molinari completes the jury. molinari is an architect, historian, critic, and journalist who curated the italian pavilion at the 2010 architecture biennale. this year’s event opens to the public on may 22, 2021, with the awards ceremony taking place on august 30. follow designboom’s ongoing coverage here.

lesley lokko | image © murdo mcleod

luca molinari | image by alberto cristofari