British architect Amanda Levete has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 Jane Drew Prize, recognizing “an architectural designer who, through their work and commitment to design excellence, has raised the profile of women in architecture.”
Levete is the seventh winner of the revitalised Jane Drew Prize, an award recognising an architectural designer who, through their work and commitment to design excellence, has raised the profile of women in architecture.
Amanda Levete first made her name as half of Future Systems, a practice she ran with her then-husband Jan Kaplický with whom she designed the Lord’s Media Centre, winner of the 1999 RIBA Stirling Prize, as well as the futuristic Birmingham Selfridges. Levete left Future Systems to form AL_A in 2009, where she found continued success designing cultural venues with bold materiality. Some of the firm’s best known works include the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon, the Central Embassy Shopping Center in Bangkok, and the recently-opened addition to the V&A museum in London.
Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendorp was named winner of the 2018 Ada Louise Huxtable Prize, for “individuals working in the wider architectural industry who have made a significant contribution to architecture and the built environment.”
Madelon Vriesendorp is best known for her wonderful paintings, - for her early work founding the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), some of which illustrated Rem Koolhaas’s book Delirious New York, including the original cover image depicting an anthropomorphized Empire State Building and Chrysler Building laying together in bed. Vriesendorp co-founded OMA with Koolhaas and Elia and Zoe Zenghelis in 1975, before taking a step away from architecture and focusing instead on the design of costumes, objects, illustrations, exhibitions and short stories.
Paul Finch commented.- ‘Madelon Vriesendorp is a rarity: a true artist who has a deep understanding of architecture and its protocols, and whose observant and witty work has provided a thoughtful visual counterpoint to the world of bricks and mortar.’
Paul Finch commented.- ‘Madelon Vriesendorp is a rarity: a true artist who has a deep understanding of architecture and its protocols, and whose observant and witty work has provided a thoughtful visual counterpoint to the world of bricks and mortar.’