The Curator, Carlo Ratti, has motivated the choice to award the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Memoriam to Italo Rota as follows:
“Italo Rota was a forerunner. His vision was that of a world in which the relevance of living entities and biology in general, nature in the broadest possible definition, and finally science and applied technology were united in a single breathing entity. Throughout his life, he had the extraordinary ability to traverse the second half of the twentieth century and the first quarter of the new century by flying above the major styles and cultures of design, establishing himself as one of the most original figures in Italian and European architecture.
Raised under the wing of masters such as Franco Albini, Vittorio Gregotti, and Gae Aulenti, he cultivated a unique eclecticism and a rare ability to combine poetic vision and extreme analytical lucidity. A man of boundless culture, a passionate collector and researcher of both Wunderkammer objects and technological devices, and a generous teacher, he has contributed to the creation of some of the most influential cultural venues in Europe in recent decades, with projects such as the restoration of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Museo del Novecento in Milan. His cultural legacy is well expressed by the title of his last monograph, Solo diventare natura ci salverà (“Only Becoming Nature Will Save Us”. Milan: Libri Scheiwiller, 2023)”.
“The adventure of the Biennale Architettura 2025 began together with Italo Rota at the end of 2023. It was tragically interrupted with his passing a year ago, on April 6, 2024. This is why I am particularly pleased that the Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia accepted my proposal to award Italo with the high honor of the Special Golden Lion for Liftetime Achivement in Memoriam. Also significant is the recent decision of the Ministry of Culture, through the Soprintendenza ai Beni Archivistici e Bibliografici of Lombardy, to place a bond to attract his work to the national cultural heritage. I am equally happy, finally, to be able to present at the Arsenale the work of Margherita Palli, Italo's life and work companion, whose contribution will ideally continue our initial research.”
On the decision to award the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement to Donna Haraway, Carlo Ratti stated:
“Donna Haraway is one of the most influential voices in contemporary thought, straddling the social sciences, anthropology, feminist criticism, and the philosophy of technology. Over the past four decades, she has explored, in a multidisciplinary manner and with a constant capacity for linguistic invention, issues such as the impact of technological evolution on our biological nature and the ways in which the environmental context of the Chthulucene redefines the boundaries between human and nonhuman.
Haraway invented this definition, after the American writer H.P. Lovecraft, as alternative to the term “Anthropocene” (normally used to define the human impact on Earth) to emphasise the urgency of the co-existence and symbiosis with other species. From whichever route one approaches the convergence of multiple forms of intelligence in shaping our future, the legacy of Donna Haraway will appear.
Her work and philosophy, radically critical but simultaneously optimistic and imaginative, are distinguished by their commitment to creating alternative worlds: to constructing positive visions in which the difficulties of the present can be overcome or mitigated through the making of new myths and the cultivation of new kin. Her contributions to the way we understand science, technology, race, gender, geography, and the environmental history of humanity have left indelible marks on the study of each, and their precedence to the notion that natural, artificial, and collective intelligences act together is self-evident.
As designers grapple with a rapidly transforming present in which nature, technology, and society all present symptoms of divergence from the world as we know it, Haraway’s theory empowers us and her observations guide us. With gratitude we recognize the lifetime of visionary literature she endows to the future, and we applaud her inspirations to architecture expressed in this exhibition and far beyond”.
Set and costume designer Margherita Palli will receive the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. Palli will participate in the 2025 Architecture Biennale alongside Stefano Capolongo and Ingrid Maria Paoletti (Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Milan Polytechnic) and Konstantin Novosëlov (National University of Singapore) with the project Material Bank: Matters Make Sense.
At the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement was awarded to Lina Bo Bardi (1914–1992), a Brazilian architect, designer, set designer, artist, and critic who was naturalized as Italian, on the recommendation of Hashim Sarkis, curator of the 2021 Biennale.
