The International Architecture Biennial in São Paulo (BIA), Brazil, is an international competition to recognize art and innovation in architecture. The first BIA was held in 1973. The most recent competition is November 1 to December 4, 2011.

History

The BIA is held on alternating years from the São Paulo Art Biennial

São Paulo Art Biennial

The São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial , which serves as its role model....

, another major international event hosted by the city. Both biennials are held in the Pavilhão Ciccillo Matarazzo building in the Ibirapuera Park (Parque do Ibirapuera). The large pavillion was designed by a team headed by Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer

Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho is a Brazilian architect specializing in international modern architecture...

 and Hélio Uchôa.

The theme of the 2011 BIA is "Architecture for All -- Building Citizenship".

See also

• Brazilian architecture
• Architectural design competition
  Architectural design competition
  An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...