Paulo Mendes da Rocha Receives RIBA Royal Gold Medal 2017
Celebrated Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha has been granted the 2017 Royal Gold Medal by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The medal which is given on behalf of the Queen is meant to recognize a person’s or a group’s significant contributions to the field of architecture through a lifetime.
The 88-year-old architect was born in Vitória, Brazil. He is well-known for his fair-faced concrete buildings, a style widely known as “Brazilian Brutalism”. His first renowned building, the Athletic Club of São Paulo, was completed in 1957, and then it was followed by numerous public buildings which have remarkably transformed the city of São Paulo. His famous buildings include Serra Dourada Stadium in Goiânia as well as Saint Peter Chapel, Pinacoteca do Estado, and Patriarch Plaza in São Paulo.
RIBA President and chair of the selection committee Jane Duncan described Mendes da Rocha’s work as “highly unusual.” He explained: “He is an architect with an incredible international reputation, yet almost all his masterpieces are built exclusively in his home country. Revolutionary and transformative, Mendes da Rocha’s work typifies the architecture of 1950s Brazil – raw, and beautifully crafted concrete.”
