by: Daniel Fox
Event: 11th International Architecture Exhibition, Venice Biennale preview
Location: Whitney Museum of American Art, 05.13.08
Speakers: Paolo Baratta — President, Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia; Aaron Betsky — Director, 11th International Architecture Exhibition
Organizer: Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia
Courtesy labiennale.org
“Factors” rather than “resulting architectural formalism” are the fodder for this year’s upcoming International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, according to the event’s director Aaron Betsky. Betsky’s curatorial wit was honed over his six-year stint as director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) in Rotterdam followed by his current job as director of the Cincinnati Art Museum.
Titled Out There: Architecture Beyond Building, “the challenge is to collect and encourage experimentation in architecture. Such experimentation can take the form of momentary constructions, visions of other worlds, or the building blocks of a better world. This Biennale… wants to see if architecture… can offer concrete forms or seductive images.” With this as Betsky’s goal, visitors will encounter around 24 site-specific installations. Padiglione Italia will feature a survey of experimental work by mainly young designers and five “Masters of the Experiment.” The Hall of Fragments by Jones | Kroloff with The Rockwell Group will ask the question: How we can be at home in the modern world? Communities beyond Place, Civic consciousness beyond Architecture, will exhibit “Everyville,” an international online competition open to students of all disciplines.
William Menking, editor-in-chief of The Architect’s Newspaper, is the commissioner in charge of the U.S. Exhibition. Called Into The Open: Positioning Practice, he is collaborating with Teddy Cruz and Deborah Gans, AIA, with support from Aaron Levy and Andrew Sturm, to explore recent explosive migration and its impact on society and geo-political boundaries, as well as the repercussions on architecture, according to the press release. “The idea of the exhibition is to talk about practice in a new way where design evolves out of conflicts and relationships,” Menking said.
The 11th International Architecture Exhibition will also present 65 national participants with exhibitions inside the Pavilions at Giardini and the historic center in Venice. This year’s Biennale will open to the public September 14-23. Tickets are €15, €8 for students. For more details, visit the website.
Johannes M. P. Knoops, FAAR, Assoc. AIA, is an educator and practitioner who straddles both the innovative and romantic aspirations of our profession. This summer, he looks forward to exploring and re-mapping Venice though the conflicting cartography of Venetian business cards.