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The 13th Venice Biennale, which closes its doors on November 27th, sparked an interesting debate during its opening given the highly political focus of some of the exhibitions, which for some diverged from architecture itself and entered on a discussion on its own.

In this context we find Vogadors: Architectural Rowers, the Catalan and Balearic Islands Pavilion curated by Jordi Badia and Félix Arranz, an exhibit that focused on the built project which uses the common ground theme to define the new generation of Catalonian architects: David Sebastian and Gerard Puig, SMS arquitectos, Arquitecturia, Jaime Ferrer, Meritxell Inaraja, Blancafort Reus Arquitectura, Núria Salvadó and David Tapias, Francisco Cifuentes and Bosch.Capdeferro Arquitectures (more details about the projects).

In the exhibit, nine projects from this generation are displayed in high detail, including extensive drawings, textures, constructive systems, videos of the buildings in use, and other forms of representation that put the visitors closer to the origins of the project, the relation with the site and the inhabitants, the research and most specially, the tradition.

And tradition is what closes the exhibit, presenting the works of the masters of Catalonian architecture such as Enric Miralles, as their influence is the common ground that the new generation shares. Looking back to understand the present and the future, as a rower who advances looking backwards reflected on Jorge Oteiza’s quote “He who forges ahead creating something new does so like an oarsman, moving forward but back-paddling, looking behind him, towards the past, towards what exists, so as to be able to reinvent its underpinnings.”

The exhibit, taking place at the Isola San Pietro between the Arsenale and the Giardini, extends its reach and presence thanks to a joint venture with Spanish publishing house Gustavo Gili, with the digital editions of the Vogadors catalog available at the iBook Store or at the GG website.

More fromt he curators after the break:

Designed by Mateo Arquitectura, the proposal for the Lascaux IV: International Cave Painting Center competition speaks to us of its history and woven of enigmas that humankind seeks to solve. It tells us that there are individuals who think, who prove, who suppose and interpret. Right beside, their virtual doubles welcome us in small theatres sunk into the ground, facing the hill. The gentle slope of the entryway leads you to a space of darkness, which awakens a unique experience. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Taking place at Cooper Union in New York, the Steven Holl: ‘Scale’ lecture focuses on the firm’s current work in exploring new ways of integrating an organizing idea with the programmatic and functional essence of a building, “always using the unique character of a program and a site as the starting point for an architectural idea.” Steven Holl was the recipient of the 2012 AIA Gold Medal. His firm has been honored with many awards, publications, and exhibitions for excellence in design, most recently, their Cité de l’Océan et du Surf Museum (pictured in the slideshow above) won the Emirates Glass Leaf Award, the Annual Design Review, and the American Architecture Award. In 2001, Holl was named America’s Best Architect by Time. The event is co-sponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union as part of the program put on by the Architectural League, and takes place Wednesday, November 28th at 7:00pm. For more information, please visit here.

Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi were recently announced by the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee as the recipients of the 2013 Urban Edge Award. This biennial award honors an internationally recognized designer or firm whose work brings innovative thinking and effective strategies to transform the realm of urban design. As award recipients, Weiss and Manfredi will curate the Urban Edge Symposium, Evolutionary Infrastructure, at the UWM School of Architecture and Urban Planning in April 2013.

The Save the Prentice Wrecking Ball: The Monument to Bruce, designed by Design With Company, is a response to the situation of the Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago which aims at creating a new narrative for the building’s afterlife. By combining literary and architectural narrative strategies, their design tries to recapture the narrative and produce the universe we need to steer us toward the conversations we want to have. This story is not a means to an end, it is the ends. More images and architects’ description after the break.

The design by Spark Architects for the Ikon Connaught seeks to create a lifestyle destination on an intimate neighborhood scale with the level of quality, impact and vibrancy of a city centre destination. Located at the heart of Cheras in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the project will provide space for more than 100 boutique shops and restaurants over five storeys with five levels of office above. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Architects: Jordi Farrando Location: Sant Esteve Sesrovires, Cataluña, Spain Architect: Jordi Farrando Project Year: 2007 Photographs: Adrià Goula

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Architects: Archi5 Location: Belfort, France Project Year: 2012 Photographs: Fabien Terreaux and Amoor Maadi

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MVRDV, in collaboration with The Jerde Partnership, ARUP, and developer Wijaya Karya – Benhil Property, have unveiled plans to create a new landmark in Jakarta, Indonesia. Dubbed Peruri 88, the 400 meter tall vertical city integrates retail, offices, housing, a luxury hotel, four levels of parking, a wedding house, a mosque, an imax theater and an outdoor amphitheater, with an extensive amount of green space.

The team presented the plans to city and site owner, Peruri, as part of a developer’s bid competition for the prominent site.

All the details after the break…

Results from the Transforming the Bridge Competition for Cleveland, Ohio, are in. The competition called for an innovative solution for the redevelopment and repurposing of the abandoned Detroit-Superior Bridge. The brief called for a variety of uses, dedicated pedestrian and bike paths, performance spaces, and landscaping solutions. Nine projects made the cut…

Architects: Metropolis Location: Lima, Peru Project Year: 2012 Project Area: 17,000 sqm Photographs: Juan Solano

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Beijing-based Büro Ole Scheeren has released plans for a mixed-use, high-rise development in the modern metropolis of Singapore. Titled ‘DUO’, the twin towers are not intended to be conceived as autonomous objects, but defined by the spaces they create around them. Their curved facades engages the city and frames a “new civic nucleus” at its base, while featuring premium offices, a five-star hotel, 660 high-end residential units and signature retail space.

DUO is lead by German-born architect Ole Scheeren, whose best known for his work with OMA on Beijing’s CCTV headquarters and has recently turned heads with the popular floating Archipelago Cinemas. The project is expected for completion by 2017, with construction planned to break ground next year.

More images and the architects’ description after the break.

As part of the new Tongji Science and Technology Park in Jiading, Shanghai, the aim for the design by Damian Donze of Tongji Architectural Design and Research Institute was to create a high level office complex with a commercial street on the ground floor. The irregular form of the building is not just to make an impression, but creates high end office spaces with access to exterior space. The building stretches along Huang Du Lü Yuan Road and extends the commercial street coming from the North. More images and architects’ description after the break.

What if your house, neighbourhood, even your city were part of a TV set? This is the fake world - a kind of suburban utopia - where Truman Burbanks lives, tricked by loops of spaces and stuck in routines. The film questions the idea of a “perfect” reality, and troubles the predictable scenarios of suburban life. From the perspective of urban planning and architecture, the film makes you wonder: to what extent should we have control over our environments? To what extent should we design out choice, or randomness, or disorder, in the name of “perfection”? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Commissioned through a design competition, the Office Complex for Delhi Pollution Control Committee proposal by M:OFA Studios houses about 200 officials , scientists and a devoted work force responsible for making and implementing policies, research and formulating norms for keeping India’s capital Pollution free. The significance of this office in the larger context is an affirmation of this purpose itself contributing towards a higher standard of living for the populace of Delhi State. It was the understanding of this purpose and sustainability in the Indian context that became the core design parameters for the DPCC head office building. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Studioninedots, in collaboration with Atelier 115 Architectes, recently won the limited competition for the design of a 9200m2 office building for Kaufman & Broad in Paris. Their highly legible, iconic office building, called Ya, holds its own among the high-rise structures on the park-side of Avenue Pierre Lefaucheux. The application of horizontal articulation also connects the project to the more small-scale residential developments in the vicinity. More images and architects’ description after the break.