Architects gear up for Biennale in Venice
The centrepiece is a 1/10 scale model of a section of the Olympic Stadium for London 2012.
Venice's prestigious architecture festival, the Biennale will open on Sunday with the theme People Meet in Architecture, it has been announced.
Four dozen exhibitors including architects, engineers, artists and studios will participate in the 12th themed event.
Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima - who co-won the Pritzker prize - is the Biennale's first female director.
The event is scheduled to run until 21 November.
"This show will be a chance to experience the manifold possibilities of architecture, as well as to account for its plurality of approaches, each one of them being a different way of living," Sejima said.
The British Pavilion was commissioned by Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design and Fashion at the British Council.
The centrepiece is a 1/10 scale model of a section of the Olympic Stadium for London 2012.
Built by Venetian carpenters Spazio Legno, the structure will be reconstructed on another site in Venice as a lasting legacy of the project.
Albania, Bahrain, Malaysia, Morocco and Rwanda will all be included in the festival for the first time this year.
The pavilions of the Biennale will stretch over Venice's Arsenal and Giardini areas in the east of the lagoon city.
The Seattle Central Library, designed by Rem Koolhaas 
 architect  has been awarded the "Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement" at the opening ceremony of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the , on August 28th. The decision was taken by the Board of the Biennale, upon the proposal of the Director of this year's exhibition, . The Board stated that "Rem Koolhaas has expanded the possibilities of architecture. He has focused on the exchanges between people in space. He creates buildings that bring people together and in this way forms ambitious goals for architecture. His influence on the world has come well beyond architecture." The  architect Kazuyo Sejima, who won this year's  is the Biennale's first female director. 

Rem Koolhaas is renown as one of the founders of the  (OMA) in 1975, and author of  ''Delirious New York'' (1978) and ''S,M,L,XL'' (1995). Among his most important buildings are the  at The Hague, the Nexus Housing at Fukuoka in Japan, the  in Rotterdam, the Grand Palais of Euralille in Lille, the Villa dall’Ava in Paris, and the . One of his most recent projects is the  (CCTV) headquarters building in Beijing. 

The Board also awarded a special Golden Lion in memory of the Japanese architect, , who died in 2006. The Golden Lion for the best National Participation was this year awarded to the . Located in 's  and , the Biennale will be open until November 21.


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