2016: The year of maximum consecration for architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha

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Retired FAU professor, 87-year-old architect Paulo Mendes Rocha, from Espírito Santo, was honored on September 29 with the gold medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba). The ceremony will be held in 2017 in London. , is recognized as one of the greatest honors in the world of architecture. The award came in recognition of the career of this professional who had already received, in addition to the Golden Lion, this year, at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale, the 28th Imperial Prize for the Arts Japan in the architecture category. The architect and urban planner was also one of only two Brazilians to have received the Pritzker Prize in 2006, the most important in world architecture – before him only Rio de Janeiro architect Oscar Niemeyer had received the award, in 1988.

According to the president of Riba (Institute of British Architects), Jane Duncan, quoted in the article in the newspaper Estado de São Paulo, Mendes da Rocha was awarded for his “revolutionary and transformative” work and Duncan also states “he is an architect with an incredible international reputation, but almost all of his masterpieces were built in his home country.”

Among his main projects, which are now seen as landmarks of the city of São Paulo, are the renovation of the Pinacoteca do Estado (1993/1998), the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (1986/1995), renovation of the FIESP Cultural Center (1996/ 1998). Not counting his older projects, revered as true works of art in the capital, among them are the Gymnasium of the Clube Atlético Paulistano (1957) and the Guaimbê Building (1962). There are also more controversial constructions such as the Reconfiguration of the Praça do Patriarca (1992/200) and the roof over the Galeria Prestes Maia, in Praça do Patriarca (2002). Relive the works of this great master of architecture in the gallery of photos taken by the famous photographer Nelson Kon.