June 27, 2008 The Board of the
Foundation La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, gathered today in the offices of Palazzo Querini Dubois, and on the proposal of the Director,
Aaron Betsky, attributed the
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement for the
11th International Architecture Exhibition to
Frank Gehry. With this award, the desire is to stress –in line with the spirit of the 11th Architecture Biennale– how much
Gehry’s work is the significant result of years of experimentation. “
Frank Gehry has transformed modern architecture”; writes
Aaron Betsky in his motivation. “He has liberated it from the confines of the ‘box’ and the constraints of common building practices. As experimental as the art practices that have been his inspiration,
Frank Gehry’s architecture is the very modern model for an architecture beyond building”.
The Board has also underlined the important presence
Gehry will have in
Venice with his
Venice Gateway, the water gate linking the city to the airport.