Last week, a prestigious Golden Lion was bestowed upon Kenneth Frampton at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale di Venezia, not for any single achievement, but for a life of achievements. Though already recognized as an intellectual lion here in New York City, Ken Frampton more than deserves this global celebration.

 

Upon the recommendation of Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the curators of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition and the approval of the Board of La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, Frampton was bestowed a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. In a Biennale whose theme is framed by the term “Freespace,” the curators note: “[Frampton] stands out as the voice of truth in the promotion of key values of architecture and its role in society. His humanistic philosophy in relation to architecture is embedded in his writing, and he has consistently argued for this humanistic component throughout all the various ‘movements’ and trends often misguided in architecture in the 20th and 21st century.”

 

La Biennale di Venezia President Paolo Baratta stated: “The Golden Lion goes this year to a “maestro,” and in this sense, it is also intended to be a recognition of the importance of the critical approach to the teaching of architecture.”

 

Few New York City architects are unaware of the tremendous influence Frampton has on the intellectual milieu. As the Ware Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where he has taught since 1972, he has shaped more than one generation of architects. Recognized for his seminal book, Modern Architecture: A Critical History, which first appeared in 1980 and is now in its fourth printing, his publications include Studies in Tectonic Culture: The Poetics of Construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Architecture (1995), American Masterworks (1995), Le Corbusier: Architect of the Twentieth Century (2001), Labour, Work & Architecture (2005), and most recently, L’Altro Movimento Moderno (2015), and A Genealogy of Modern Architecture: Comparative Critical Analysis of Built Form (2015).

 

Only two other Americans have ever been honored by the Venice Biennale with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement: Frank Gehry in 2008, and Peter Eiseman in 2004. This monumental recognition follows in the footsteps of other equally significant recent tributes, including the 2017 exhibition Educating Architects: Four Courses by Kenneth Frampton at the Canadian Centre for Architecture, which celebrated his tremendous influence as an educator, and having been named a “2018 Game Changer,” by Metropolis Magazine in March 2018: “Kenneth Frampton Isn’t Done Changing Architecture.”

 

 

Motivated by issues of memory and place Johannes Knoops, Assoc. AIA, FAAR, explores hidden urban narratives. As a tenured Associate Professor of Interior Design at FIT/SUNY, he shares his passion for a design to communicate meaning. In addition to his teaching, Knoops maintains a multi-disciplinary practice on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

 

Also by Knoops:

 

Kenneth Frampton, a New York Lion ... now a Golden Lion of the Venice Architecture Biennale

As the Ware Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where he has taught since 1972, he has shaped more than one generation of architects.

 

"Freespace"... The One Word of the 2018 Venice Biennale, the 16th Exhibition of Architecture  

A survey of just 10 of the 65 national pavilions chosen for their translation of "Freespace" - and in no particular order other than my own itinerary. (2018)

 

More Heart and Soul than Ever Before: 15th Venice Architecture Biennale "Reporting from the Front"
Architecture alone cannot change the world, but the issues that populate this year's Biennale, as curated by Alejandro Aravena, explore how we are all responsible for making an effort. (2016)

 

The Great Compilation: 14th International Exhibition of Architecture di la Biennale di Venezia
Rem Koolhaas has irrevocably changed the Venice Biennale's focus away from starchitects to architecture itself. Indeed, I left impressed and invigorated, but curious as to what might follow. (2014)