Lacaton & Vassal

The 2016 Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Achievement Award was given to the duo Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal for their unprecedented look at rehabilitating existing structures using ingenious solutions, placing architecture at the service of improving people's lives.

This regenerative and social approach has earned them worldwide recognition and impacted the way social housing is designed. And it all started with an experiment in Africa. Or a few years earlier, when Anne and Jean-Philippe's paths first crossed as students in the 1970s. Vassal later went to live and work in Niger for five years, a period that shaped their architectural vision. Their first project together was in the Nigerian city of Niamey: a thatched hut built with local bushes that survived the harsh weather for two years. The duo realised that it was possible to achieve good results by blending disciplinary knowledge with available resources, without excess, without luxury – the luxury is the transformation itself. A way of thinking about architecture that is so poignant in their production. 

In 1987, they founded the Lacaton & Vassal studio in Paris, where they focused on converting social housing, always with the same logic, as Anne says: “Transformation is the opportunity to do more and better with what already exists. Demolition is an easy, short-term decision. It's a waste of many things – a waste of energy, a waste of material and history. It also has a very negative social impact. For us, it's an act of violence.” Among their milestones stands the renovation of a 96-apartment housing scheme originally built in the early 1960s that the local authorities had planned to demolish. The duo rejected this idea, instead removing the original concrete façade, extending the building with balconies and expanding each house. This was a model they replicated many times. And it earned them the admiration of their peers. 

On another front, the studio has completed major projects, such as the Palais Tokyo in Paris, making it the largest gallery for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art in their country. They have “achieved worldwide recognition for its relevance and uniqueness. From smaller-scale projects marked by the questioning of typologies and materials used outside their conventional field, to the intelligent reinvention of pre-existing architectures, their journey is extraordinary proof of architecture's capacity for transformation”, said José Mateus, chairman of the Triennale. 

The studio went on to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2021, with its jury recognising that “architecture can have a great impact on our communities and help raise awareness that we are not alone.” Vassal likes to add happiness to this equation. “Good architecture is a space where something special happens, where you want to smile just because you're there. It's also a relationship with the city, a relationship with what you see and a place where you feel happy, where people feel good and comfortable – a space that provides emotions and pleasures.”

The Award

The studio, represented by Anne Lacaton, received an artwork designed by José Pedro Croft, an artist who has represented Portugal in several editions of the Venice Art Biennale. In the 1980s, he began his career as a stone sculptor, strongly influenced by João Cutileiro, his fellow colleague. As a contemporary artist in the Western world, he has never ceased to develop a unique vision integrating architectural aspects in his expression. In his latest works, Croft has been more interested in playing with volumes and light, using mirrors, glass, bronze and crystals. Fragmentation and deconstruction in his works generate images and moments that aim to generate logical confrontations between full and empty spaces.

About

The Lisbon Triennale Millennium bcp Achievement Award honours a working studio or individual whose work and ideas have influenced and continue to have a profound impact on contemporary architectural practice and thinking. We believe in consistency and excellence, in relevant work and its distinction. 

The scope of this award has included nominators and jury members from five continents, ensuring a plurality of voices that has given it solid credibility. Since 2007, recipients of this Award receive an original work of art created by a prestigious/celebrated Portuguese artist, contributing for the promotion of our artistic production. 

Jury

Andres Lepik
Bijoy Jain
Cecilia Puga
Jorge Figueira
Juan Herreros
Niall Hobhouse

Nominators

Ana Jara, Ana Luiza Nobre, André Tavares, Bekim Ramku, Carlotta Darò, Cláudia Taborda, Danica Jovović Prodanović, David Basulto, Emilia Giorgi, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Eva Franch Gilabert, Fernanda Fragateiro, Hege Maria Eriksson, Herbert Wright, João Luís Carrilho da Graça, José Fernando Gonçalves, Josephine Michau, Juan Coll-Barreu, Kaye Geipel, Laurent Stalder, Leonor Cintra Gomes, Lucinda Correia, Markus Bogensberger, Matevž Čelik, Nuno Crespo, Nuno Grande, Pedro Baía, Pedro Bandeira, Pippo Ciorra, Roberto Zancan, Saimir Kristo, Shumi Bose, Valéry Didelon