Tag: fundamentals | ArchDaily

Staging Culture: The Architect as Curator

Diogo Borges Ferreira — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 07:30:00 +0000

Architecture has never been confined to the act of building. It constantly negotiates between material practice and intellectual reflection, yet throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, many architects felt that the built project alone was insufficient to address the full range of questions facing the discipline. Economic pressures, political contexts, and programmatic demands often narrowed the scope of practice.

Reflections on the 2014 Venice Biennale

James Taylor-Foster — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 01:00:00 +0000

Fundamentals, the title of the 2014 Venice Biennale, will close its doors in a matter of days (on the 23rd November). From the moment Rem Koolhaas revealed the title for this year’s Biennale in January 2013, asking national curators to respond directly to the theme of ‘Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014’, there was an inkling that this Biennale would be in some way special. Having rejected offers to direct the Biennale in the past, the fact that Koolhaas chose to act not only as curator but also thematic co-ordinator of the complete international effort, was significant. This announcement led Peter Eisenman (one of Koolhaas' earliest tutors and advocates) to state in one interview that “[Rem is] stating his end: the end of [his] career, the end of [his] hegemony, the end of [his] mythology, the end of everything, the end of architecture.”

Beyond Starchitects: An Architectural Revolution at the 2014 Venice Biennale

Finn MacLeod — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

"The Biennale reveals that modernism was never a style. It was a cultural, political, and social practice," says Sarah Williams Goldhagen in her recent article for New Republic, The Great Architect Rebellion of 2014. This year, the Venice Biennale dissects the notion of modernism by providing a hefty cross-section of architectural history in the central pavilion. However contrary to Koolhaas' prescriptive brief, the 65 national pavilions show modernism was not just a movement, but a socially-driven, culturally attuned reaction to the "exigencies of life in a rapidly changing and developing world." Unexpected moments define the 2014 Venice Biennale: from Niemeyer's desire to launch Brazil into the first world through architectural creation, to South Korea's unveiling of a deep modernist tradition with influence across the nation. This Biennale proved to be truly rebellious - read Goldhagen's article from New Republic here to find out why.

Ideal/Real: The Argentine Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

Nico Saieh — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 01:00:00 +0000

The Argentine pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale analyzes modernity in terms of the IDEAL and the REAL by looking at how the country has used “ideal” modern ideas to construct the reality of its cities.

The curators, Emilio Rivoira and Juan Fontana, structured the exhibit around eight periods, selecting cinema clips to represent the ideal and the real.

Rem Koolhaas' "Elements": Uncovering Architecture's Origins, Assuring Its Future

Nico Saieh — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 01:00:00 +0000

ArchDaily has been asking architects "What is Architecture?" for over 6 years. It's a question that few interviewees answer without hesitation or bristling. But after asking over 200 architects, we've noticed a pattern: even though many people start very similarly, the answers soon diverge in a way that demonstrates the promise of the profession. And no matter how architecture is defined, the strong majority of architects hold an underlying belief in its ability to influence.

A Biennale of Knowledge: Rem Koolhaas on The Importance of the Archive

David Basulto — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Curated by Rem Koolhaas, this year’s Biennale set high expectations in the architecture world, a fact reflected in the massive attendance during the preview. As Koolhaas stated at the awards ceremony, he took on the hard task of reinventing the Biennale, recognizing its influence in how architecture is exhibited around the world.

Iñaki Ábalos' Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale: "Interior"

Pola Mora — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

By focusing on the architecture of interiors, Inaki Ábalos, the curator of this year's Spanish Pavilion, highlights the spaces within 12 Spanish buildings. These projects, mostly completed within the past three years, serve as specifically important instances of refurbishment and regeneration of Spain's built heritage. The exhibition is a study not only of the architecture itself, but of the cultural material that gave rise to the specific forms. Through large-scale photographs and sections of each of the presented spaces, Interior seeks "the place where life unfolds, the central theme of architecture." Read on to find the rest of the curator's statement.

AIRBNB Pavilion Coming to the Venice

Jennifer Whelan — Mon, 19 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During this year's Architecture Biennale in Venice, homes rented through AIRBnB (although not the company itself) will host an independently curated pavilion. AIRBnB is a six-year old platform through which home owners can rent out rooms, apartments, and entire houses, allowing "the fortress of the family and the individual" to be infiltrated. The pavilion will take advantage of this "infiltration" and how it reveals "the house, the home and today's life." To learn more, follow @airbnbpavilion on instagram and twitter.

One Month to Go! Join ArchDaily's #CountdownVenice2014

Nika Chilewich — Wed, 07 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

With the highly anticipated Venice Biennale just over a month away, ArchDaily is gearing up for what promises to be an impressive architectural display. All of the national pavilions will be organized under one theme: Absorbing Modernity. The event will also include Fundamentals, a look back at some of architecture’s most basic components as a means of examining the history of design in the evolution of societies. All in all, Koolhaas’ conception is for a Biennale that is more "a vehicle for research than an exhibition."