The Golden Lion at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale was awarded to Phyllis Lambert

After Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas, and Álvaro Siza, this year, the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from the 14th Venice Biennale will not go to an architect, but to Canadian philanthropist Phyllis Lambert, who helped establish the CCA (Canadian Centre for Architecture) in 1979, but her persona is primarily tied to the story of the New York Seagram Building.
Almost ninety years old, Phyllis Lambert comes from the wealthy Bronfman family in Canada, whose business activities were closely linked to the Seagram distillery. As the daughter of the then chairman of the board of Seagram, Phyllis Lambert invited Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to design the new headquarters for Seagram (1958), for which Mies had not yet had any realized project in New York. Lambert later also recommended Mies as the architect for the Toronto TD Centre skyscrapers (1969). The Canadian Centre for Architecture, founded by her, still provides ideal conditions for the protection and study of architectural heritage.
In 1963, Phyllis Lambert graduated from Chicago's IIT, with her only realized project being the Saidye Bronfman Centre theatre in Montreal, named after her mother and showcasing Mies van der Rohe's distinctive style.
The gilded statuette of the Golden Lion will be presented to Phyllis Lambert on Saturday, June 7, 2014 (11:00 AM) in the Venice Giardini complex.

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