Brazilian architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha has been announced as the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement prize at the 2016 Venice Biennale.

Da Rocha – whose landmark leisure buildings in his homeland include the Serra Dourada football stadium in Goiania, and the Clube Atlético Paulistano gymnasium and Brazilian Sculpture Museum in Sao Paolo – was nominated for the award by the biennale's curator, Alejandro Aravena.

In a citation, the festival’s board of directors called da Rocha “a nonconformist challenger and simultaneously a passionate realist” who has produced a timeless body of work.

They said: “Many decades after being built, each of his projects have resisted the test of time, both stylistically and physically. This astonishing consistency may be the consequence of his ideological integrity and his structural genius.

“For the many generations of architects in Brazil, Latin America and everywhere, he is a role model able to join shared and collective efforts and attract others to the cause of a better built environment."

Da Rocha will receive the Golden Lion on 28 May at Ca’ Giustinian at the headquarters of the biennale.

Previous winners of the award include Rem Koolhaas, Richard Rogers and Frank Gehry.