(anglais-français)
INFO.
(extrait)
The Special Projects
The 15th International Architecture Exhibition will feature three Special Projects, the first promoted by La Biennale, the other two the result of agreements stipulated with other institutions, organized and realised by La Biennale itself.
The exhibition curated by architect Stefano Recalcati, titled Reporting from Marghera and Other Waterfronts, to be shown in the exhibition venues of Forte Marghera (Mestre, Venezia), will analyse significant projects for the urban regeneration of industrial ports, helping to fuel the debate on the conversion of production in Porto Marghera.
The collaboration agreement with the Victoria and Albert Museum of London takes its first step in the Applied Arts Pavilion at the Sale d’Armi in the Arsenale, with the exhibition entitled A World of Fragile Parts, curated by Brendan Cormier.
Finally, in view of the United Nations – Habitat III world conference, to be held in Quito, Ecuador, during the month of October 2016, and as part of the Urban Age programme, organized jointly by the London School of Economics and the Alfred Herrhausen Society, La Biennale will present, also in the Sale d’Armi, a pavilion dedicated to the themes of urbanisation – Report from Cities: Conflicts of an Urban Age – with particular attention to the relationship between public spaces and private spaces, curated by Ricky Burdett.
The programme of conversations about architecture
The Biennale Architettura 2016 will be accompanied throughout its duration by a wide-ranging programme of encounters to discuss the themes and phenomena presented in the Exhibition. Architecture Saturdays return this year with the architects and protagonists of the International Architecture Exhibition curated by Aravena, scheduled for every last weekend of the month. The “Special Projects” will also be enriched with a series of conversations and symposia to explore the issues they raise.
On July 16th and 17th, in Venice, the exhibition venues will host the annual Urban Age conference organized by the London School of Economics Cities, jointly with the Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society. The complete programme of events will be announced shortly.
“Biennale Sessions”, the project for Universities
The Biennale Sessions project will be held again for the seventh consecutive year, following the success of its previous editions. This initiative is dedicated by La Biennale di Venezia to institutions that develop research and training in architecture, the arts and related fields, and to Universities and Fine Arts Academies. The goal is to offer favourable conditions for students and teachers to organize three-day group visits for fifty people or more, offering reduced price meals, the possibility to organize seminars free of charge at the Exhibition's venues, and assistance in organizing their journey and stay. As of today, 53 international institutions from 13 countries and every continent have signed a protocol of understanding.
Educational
Educational activities will again be offered for the year 2016, addressed to individuals and groups of students from schools of all levels and grades, from universities and fine arts academies, and to professionals, companies, experts, architecture fans and families. These initiatives aim to actively involve participants in both Guided Tours and Creative Workshops.
Publications
The official catalogue, titled REPORTING FROM THE FRONT, consists of two volumes (format 21 x 27 cm). Volume I is dedicated to the International Architecture Exhibition, and is edited by Alejandro Aravena. Each project is presented on specific pages within the catalogue. In individual dedicated essays, Aravena introduces the architectural design, the author’s or Firm’s “approach”, describing the project’s specificities and explaining the reasons that led him to include the project in the Exhibition. The curator’s texts are accompanied by drawings, sketches, original manuscripts and repertory images by the various authors. Each section is also accompanied by short technical and biographical notes. Volume II is dedicated to the National Participations, the Collateral Events and the 3 Special Projects. Each section includes detailed texts dedicated to the individual projects, repertory images and renderings of the installations in the exhibition spaces.
The Exhibition Guide (one volume, format 10.5 x 27 cm) is conceived to accompany the visitor through the exhibition, thanks to its practical “pocket-sized” format. The projects and authors are published in the order in which they appear along the sequence through the spaces of the Exhibition.
The design of the graphic identity of the Biennale Architettura 2016 and the layout of the books are by Studio Elemental, Santiago de Chile. The books are published by Marsilio Editori.
The 15th International Architecture Exhibition was made possible by the support of Rolex, Partner and Official Watch for the event, Artemide, JTI, Vela-Venezia Unica, Laminam, and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
We would like to thank the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo, the regional Institutions that each in their own way support La Biennale, the City of Venice, the Regione Veneto.
Our thanks go to our Donors, who are essential to the creation of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition.
And finally we would like to thank the highly professional staff of La Biennale, who work with such great dedication on the organization and management of the Exhibition throughout its six-and-a-half month duration.
The Board of la Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, has met on July 18th 2015 and appointed Alejandro Aravena as Director of the Architecture Sector, with the specific responsibility for curating the 15th International Architecture Exhibition to be held from May 28th to November 27th 2016 (vernissage May 26th and 27th).
On the occasion of his nomination, Alejandro Aravena declared:
“There are several battles that need to be won and several frontiers that need to be expanded in order to improve the quality of the built environment and consequently people’s quality of life. This is what we would like people to come and see at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition: success stories worth to be told and exemplary cases worth to be shared where architecture did, is and will make a difference in those battles and frontiers”.
“The 15th International Architecture Exhibition will be about focusing and learning from architectures that through intelligence, intuition or both of them at the same time, are able to escape the status quo. We would like to present cases that, despite the difficulties, instead of resignation or bitterness, propose and do something. We would like to show that in the permanent debate about the quality of the built environment, there is not only need but also room for action”.
On his part, the President of la Biennale, Paolo Baratta, stated:
“After the important experimental Biennale developed by Rem Koolhaas, dedicated entirely to the curator’s research, it is our belief that we must follow up with a Biennale that convenes the architects, and is dedicated to the exploration of the new frontier that demonstrate the vitality of architecture, a frontier that spans across various parts of the world and shows architecture engaged in providing specific responses to specific demands. This Biennale intends to react once again to the gap between architecture and civil society, which in recent decades has transformed architecture into spectacle on the one hand, yet made it dispensable on the other. Among architects of the new generation, Alejandro Aravena is, in our opinion, the one who can best describe this reality and highlight its vitality”.
As for the duration of the Exhibition, Baratta confirms that “after many years in which the Architecture Biennale has continued to grow, we may now consolidate the decision to make it last six months, given the steady increment in the attendance of architecture schools from all over the world who come to participate in the Biennale Sessions project, and have made the Architecture Biennale a pilgrimage destination for students and teachers from the universities of many countries, from the United States to China”.
