Golden Lions to Raumlaborberlin and UAE

The event was hosted by Roberto Cicutto, President of La Biennale di Venezia, with Hashim Sarkis, curator of the main exhibition, and the five members of the jury: Kazuyo Sejima, Sandra Barclay, Lamia Joreige, Lesley Lokko, and Luca Molinari. 

After Sarkis delivered the posthumous Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Lina Bo Bardi to Sol Camacho, Cultural Director of the Instituto Bardi, Cicutto explained that the award ceremony could not take place in May, when the Venice Architecture Biennale opened, since travel restrictions kept the members of the jury from visiting the exhibition at the time. Three months later, and with the jury in attendance, six awards were given out, with most of the architects in attendance but some of them accepting their awards remotely. 

The awards, listed below, are split evenly into participation in the main exhibition, "How will we live together?," and national participation via the National Pavilions.

• Golden Lion for Best Participant in main exhibition: Instances of Urban Practice by Raumlaborberlin, described by the jury as "an inspiring collaborative approach that argues for participation, regeneration and collective responsibility"
• Silver Lion for Promising Young Participant in main exhibition: Watermelons, Sardines, Crabs, Sands, and Sediments: Border Ecologies and the Gaza Strip by Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST), described by the jury as "a daring proposal that invites us to think about divided histories, agricultural practices, rituals of daily life and the realities of settlement and occupation" 
• Special Mention for Participant in main exhibition: The Anthropocene Museum: Exhibit 3.0 Obsidian Rain by CAVE_BUREAU, described by the jury as "an imaginative and creative exploration of one of man’s oldest living environments"

Golden Lion for National Participation: UAE for Wetland, described by the jury as "a bold experiment which encourages us to think about the relationship between waste and production, and opens to new construction possibilities between craft and high technology"  

Special mention for National Participation: Russia for Open!, described by the jury as "a sensitive and careful architectural renovation of a historical pavilion at the Giardini that opens it to its immediate surroundings and to the future" 

Special mention for National Participation: Philippines for Structures of Mutual Support, described by the jury as "an exemplary community project that creates a rich archive and experience of collaborative construction practices"