Architect, researcher and teacher Marina Tabassum was elected winner of the Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Lifetime Achievement Award. Marina is the first person from the global south to receive the honor, joining Denise Scott-Brown from the USA (2019 winner), the French duo Lacaton & Vassal (2016), Kenneth Frampton from the UK (2013), Álvaro Siz from Portugal (2010) and Vittorio Gregotti from Italy (2007).
TheLifetime Achievement Award recognizes the studio or person whose work and ideas have influenced and continue to have a profound impact on current architectural thinking and practice, not emphasizing the end of a career, but on the boldness of their practice. Marina Tabassum and her work over the past three decades in Bangladesh are an inspiring example of how architectural work with local communities, even in the most adverse conditions, can have repercussions across the planet.
The international jury responsible for the choice was composed by Cristina Veríssimo (Portugal), Diogo Burnay (Portugal), N’Goné Fall (Senegal), Yael Reisner (Israel) and Zhang Ke (China). The group highlights that "the unique work developed by Marina Tabassum from Bangladesh touches the elementary foundations of the architectural spirit without losing sight of its responsibilities and potential impact."
The bold step forward taken by Marina Tabassum in the transformation of architecture, from a passive ordering model to a proactive and active role, continues to show us how professionals in this discipline can face the climate crisis and contribute to social development in a creative, thoughtful and inspiring way. — Prize Jury
The Lifetime Achievement Award is divided into two stages. In the first, more than thirty world-renowned professionals are invited. Each one of them suggests three names they consider deserving of this recognition. In a second moment, all the names are handed over to the jury, which is responsible for the final decision.
In 2022, the nominations were made by Alice Rawsthorn, Ana Dana Beroš, Bekim Ramku, Carlos Mínguez Carrasco, Chuka Ihonor, David Basulto, Denise Scott Brown, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Eve Arpo, Fabrizio Gallanti, Hanna Dencik Petersson, Herbert Wright, Jimenez Lai, Joanna Wasko, Josephine Michau, Julija Reklaitė, Marina Otero Verzier, Martynas Germanavičius, Matevž Čelik, Mimi Zeiger, Nathalie Weadick, Olamide Udoma-Ejorh, Paul Preissner, Paula Nascimento, Saimir Kristo, Sevra Davis, Shumi Bose, Sini Parikka, Taro Igarashi, Vera Sacchetti, Victoria Thornton and Zahra Ali Baba.
The 2022 edition of the Lisbon Triennale has Earth as its theme, a motto that expresses the territory, the city, the landscape, the place where we belong or a continent seen from the sea. This edition's curatorship was in charge of the Portuguese duo Cristina Veríssimo and Diogo Burnay, founders of the CVDB office.
Source: Lisbon Architecture Triennale