Top honour for Brazilian architect

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has, on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, presented noted Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha with the 2017 Royal Gold Medal for architecture.

Awarded in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence “either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture”.

Presented since 1848, past Royal Gold Medallists include Zaha Hadid, Frank Owen Gehry, Norman Foster and Frank Lloyd Wright. Oscar Niemeyer is the only other Brazilian architect to have received the honour (in 1998).

Born in 1928, Paulo Mendes da Rocha has received international acclaim for his significant contribution to architecture. His numerous notable cultural buildings, built in his particular Brazilian Brutalist style with exposed concrete structures and rough finishes, are widely credited with transforming the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.

Paulo has won several international awards, including the Miles van der Rohe Prise, the Pritzker Prize and the Venice Biennale Golden Lion for lifetime achievement.