OMA co-founder Madelon Vriesendorp awarded 2025 Soane Medal

Dutch artist Madelon Vriesendorp has been named the recipient of the 2025 Soane Medal, becoming the first UK-based female artist to receive the honor since the award’s inception in 2017. The medal, presented annually by Sir John Soane’s Museum, celebrates individuals who have made a significant contribution to the field of architecture and its public understanding.

Born in 1945 in the Netherlands, Vriesendorp is best known as one of the co-founders of OMA, established in 1975 alongside Rem Koolhaas and Elia and Zoe Zenghelis. Her imaginative paintings and illustrations, often depicting buildings as sentient, emotional beings, have become integral to the visual culture of late 20th-century architecture.

Among Vriesendorp's most recognized works is Flagrant Delit, a surreal painting showing the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building in bed together, illuminated by the torch of the Statue of Liberty. The piece appeared on the cover of Koolhaas’s Delirious New York (1978), effectively becoming OMA’s visual manifesto and an emblem of architectural storytelling.

Over recent years, Vriesendorp’s influence on architectural thought and representation has been reappraised through exhibitions such as World of Madelon Vriesendorp (2008), shown at venues including the Architectural Association and the Venice Biennale. 

Vriesendorp will formally receive the Soane Medal at the Royal Academy in London on November 18, 2025, where she will also deliver a public lecture.

The judging panel, chaired by architect Amin Taha, selected Vriesendorp from an international shortlist. Vriesendorp joins previous laureates, including Hanif Kara, Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, Peter Barber, and Marina Tabassum.