Factum Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the use of digital technology for cultural heritage conservation, in collaboration with the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Iconem have recorded the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, in Venice, Italy, in its entirety. For more than 10 days, the team using photogrammetry and LiDAR technologies scanned the 10-hectare island. The project entitled ARCHiVe, linked with EPFL's Venice Time Machine aims to “efficiently and effectively aid in the preservation of Venice's fragile cultural heritage”.
In the second part of his interview with Archdaily, Hashim Sarkis reflects on the future of architecture as he tackles the timeless question of the 2021 Venice Biennale. The curator of the Biennale, which proposes the question of “How Will We Live Together?”, discusses the role of the profession in the midst of all these new paradigms, stating that “Architects do change the world […] by creating […] wish images for what the world could be”.
In this feature, the curator of the anticipated biennale and dean of MIT School of Architecture and Planning presents his views on the evolution of Architecture, and the new directions the academic world should take, to reflect “the complexity of the urban problems of today”. Sarkis also brings up Beirut, discussing reconstruction approaches, civil society, and the exasperating notion of resilience.
Scheduled originally from August to November 2020, the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale was postponed, like every other event this year, and will be held from May 22nd to November 21st, 2021, due to the pandemic. Questioning “How will we live together?” the original statement of curator Hashim Sarkis, called upon architects “to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together”. Relevant today more than ever, with the current worldwide circumstances, the theme of the Biennale is in fact the focus of interest of the global scene.
After having discussed “How will we live together?” over a year ago with Hashim Sarkis in Venice, ArchDaily had the chance to open the debate once more and re-examine the question of the Architecture Biennale. In a two-part interview, the architect tackles the theme, the Biennale, the present situation, and the future.
Cartography of Barcelona redrawn by air pollution. Image Courtesy of 300.000 Km/s
Catalonia in Venice - air/aria/aire, part of the Collateral Event of the Biennale Architettura 2021, is an exhibition curated by architect Olga Subirós, commissioned by the Institut Ramon Llull, with the participation of 300.000 Km/s, an urbanism studio in macro data-based strategic planning. Reflecting on the central theme of the Biennale “How will we live together?” the project investigates the role of architecture and urbanism within the context of the climate emergency and the public health crisis.
La Biennale di Venezia has just announced that the International Architecture Exhibition – How will we live together? — curated by Hashim Sarkis, will be postponed once more, and will be held from May 22 to November 21, 2021.
The balloon-frame construction system was developed in the United States in the 1830s. Widely used in residential and other small-scale construction for a century, it was replaced by platform framing, which allowed for the use of smaller wood studs. Both systems rely on readily available timber elements.Courtesy Library of Congress, prints and photographs division. Farm security administration/office of war information black and white negatives
Kate Wagner spoke with the curators of the U.S. Pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale about broader issues of labor, democracy, and suburbia.
Editor’s note: As of early March, The 17th International Architecture Exhibition has been postponed and rescheduled to run from August 29 to November 2020.
On the face of it, the theme of the U.S. Pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale seems like a safe choice. It’s true that “American Framing” foregrounds the wood-framing construction system that has held sway in this country for nearly two centuries. But the exhibition’s curators, Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner, also promise to explore aspects of the system other than its material attributes. Kate Wagner, the founder of the project McMansion Hell, spoke with the pair about broader issues of labor, democracy, and suburbia.
Last week the Venice Architecture Biennale announced it would postpone its opening to August 29 of this year, while maintaining the original closure date of November 29. The duration of the Biennale will thus be reduced to three months. The reason for this intervention is clear to everyone: the Covid-19 epidemic, which has threatened the usual intense preparations for the Biennale, and which, since the decision was announced, has exacerbated to a national state of emergency. The announcement of the decision reads as a lesson in common sense.
The Hungarian Pavilion at the 2020 Venice Biennale will feature the work of twelve design studios that will reconsider twelve iconic modernist buildings in Budapest. For the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, the pavilion's curator Dániel Kovács wants to explore the value and heritage of architectural modernism to reconcile past and future architecture.
Arsenale. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
Veteran Italian film producer and CEO of Luce Cinecittà Roberto Cicutto has been appointed president of the Venice Biennale. Cicutto was appointed by the Italian minister of culture Dario Franceschini, and will replace Paolo Baratta, who presided over the Biennale for 8 years. Cicutto’s term will run for four years with a maximum of three renewals.
For its 2021 edition, the Venice Biennale appointed the chief curator of the High Line’s art program in New York, Cecilia Alemani as artistic director. Alemani will become the first Italian woman to organize the festival, running in Italy starting May of next year.
Throughout November 2019, Venice has been inundated with the city's worst floods in half a century. Photographs and videos spread across the world showing the city’s iconic St Mark’s Square underwater, with a 2-meter-high surge threatening irreparable damage to historic sites such as Saint Mark’s Basilica. While the city has been battling rising water levels since the 5th century, the recent floods, set against the context of climate change, have spurred debate about how coastal cities are vulnerable to rising sea levels, and how the damage can be mitigated against.
Carnets. Architecture is Just a Pretext book cover. Credits: Carnets, M-L-XL
Carnets. Architecture Is Just a Pretext is a publication that resumes a large research about the state of the art of young Architecture practices in Europe. The work, dealing with architectural practices through a biographic approach, is addressing to the new direction which profession is taking in Europe among young architects.
Carnets is a research project started two years ago by eight architecture students from IUAV University of Venice. The aim is to investigate the current landscape of Architecture in Europe, after the 2008 economical crisis, through interviews, talks, round tables and workshops. The protagonists of this research are 30
CA'ASI is organising an architectural competition to highlight the vitality and originality of young European architecture.
The best projects in this international competition, which is open to young architects from across Europe, will be exhibited at CA'ASI as part of the 17th International Architecture Biennale in Venice (May 23 to November 29, 2020). This competition represents a unique opportunity to showcase the important role contemporary European architecture plays in finding innovative solutions to improve living conditions on our fragile planet.
We have steered clear of prescribing a set theme in order to encourage new ideas to emerge, as it has been the
Courtesy of Dan Davison under the license CC BY 2.0
Starting September, all ships that exceed 1000 tonnes will be obliged to change their route, in order to prevent them from entering Venice’s lagoon. The Italian government took the decision after major protests due to many incidents, the latest being in June of 2019 where 5 people were injured from a collision between a cruise ship, the dock, and a small tourist boat.
Nothing is ordinary about the Italian city of Venice. Whether it is the vividly-colored architecture that dates back to Gothic and Byzantine eras, or the fact that the city is floating on water, culturally-rich Venice is an intriguing destination for people of all backgrounds and interests.
With every visit to Venice, London-based architect and photographer Mayank Thammalla found himself discovering new scenic views of the city, ones that are often tucked beneath its architecture. In his recent photographic series ‘Echoes of Venice’, Thammalla used the canal ripples as his canvas and displayed the deteriorating architecture of Venice from a unique, inverted perspective.
David Chipperfield Architects Milan’s renovation of the historic Procuratie Vecchie building in Venice is set to get underway, following a granting of permission by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape earlier this year. For the first time in 500 years, a large portion of the Procuratie Vecchie on the Piazza San Marco will be made accessible to the public to host activities of The Human Safety Net, supporting vulnerable communities.