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Venice Biennale 2018: The Latest Architecture and News

Brazilian Maps from the Venice Biennale 2018 On Sale To Fight Coronavirus in the Amazon

The recently launched non-profit initiative TomorrowAnew (Amanhã (de)Novo) is selling 10 large-scale maps produced for the Brazilian pavilion’s exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 to help fight COVID-19 in Brazil.

The cartographies reveal different facets of Brazil and examine the nature of the visible and invisible walls that define the country. They were produced by the exhibition’s curators Gabriel Kozlowski, Sol Camacho, Laura González Fierro and Marcelo MaiaRosa in collaboration with 200 professionals from 10 different disciplines

Understanding Grafton Architects, Directors of the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale

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“When you read Love in the Time of Cholera you come to realize the magic realism of South America.” Yvonne Farrell, Shelley McNamara and I were in a corner of the Barbican Centre’s sprawling, shallow atrium talking about the subject of their most recent accolade, the Royal Institute of British Architects inaugural International Prize, awarded that previous evening. That same night the two Irish architects, who founded their practice in Dublin in the 1970s, also delivered a lecture on the Universidad de Ingeniería and Tecnologia (UTEC)—their “modern-day Machu Picchu” in Lima—to a packed audience in London’s Portland Place.

"Half of the Visitors Were Under 26" - The Numbers Behind the Venice Biennale 2018

The Venice Biennale 2018 closed to the public yesterday after six months in operation. Curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the Biennale was titled FREESPACE and celebrated “generosity, thoughtfulness, and a desire to engage.”

With the exhibition closed, the organizers behind the Venice Biennale have released an impressive roundup of statistics related to the event, demonstrating the Biennale’s role as one of the most influential events in the architectural calendar.

How (Not) to Design a Biennale: Is Freespace Free?

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This article was originally published by Metropolis Magazine under the title "Taking a Second Look at This Year's Nebulous Venice Architecture Biennale."

One of the few incontrovertible truths to emerge from the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, which opened in Venice on May 26 and runs through November 25, is that sensitivity and skill in making architecture do not necessarily transfer to the work of organizing an architecture exhibition.

Repair: Australian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2018

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the completed Australian Pavilion. To read the initial proposal, refer to our previously published post, "Australian Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale to Explore Architecture's Relation to Endangered Plants."

The theme for the Australian Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale is Repair. Created by Baracco+Wright Architects in collaboration with Linda Tegg, it consists of a living installation, Grasslands Repair, that presents more than 60 species of Western Plains Grasslands plants from South East Australia. By covering the ground of the pavilion with these plants, it explores the relationship between architecture and the natural environment, especially in regards to the ecologically sensitive landscape of Australia and the cultural importance of the land for the Indigenous people.

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"Unfolding Pavilion / Little Italy" at the 2018 Venice Biennale

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the Unfolding Pavilion. Below, curators Daniel Tudor Munteanu, Davide Tommaso Ferrando, Sara Favargiotti describe the exhibition in their own words.

The ‘Unfolding Pavilion’ is an exhibition and editorial project that pops up at major architecture events in previously inaccessible but architecturally significant buildings.

On each occasion the ‘Unfolding Pavilion’ features a different theme inspired by the space it occupies, by means of commissioned original works that react to it and to its wider cultural-historic background. The ‘Unfolding Pavilion’ doesnt necessarily care about the hosting events theme. It lets its occupied space inspire its own theme. Without a good exhibition space (of the finest architectural making), the 'Unfolding Pavilion’ doesn’t have any reason to exist.

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"Mind-Building": The Finnish Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the completed Finnish Pavilion. To read the initial proposal, refer to our previously published post, "Finnish Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale to Examine the Future of Libraries."

Conceived by Commissioner Hanna Harris, Director of Archinfo Finland, and Curator Dr Anni Vartola, the Finnish Pavilion presents Mind-Building at the 2018 Venice Biennale, an exhibition that explores the importance of the public library in Finnish culture. With exhibition design by Tuomas Siitonen and graphic design by Johannes Nieminen, it showcases Finnish libraries through a thematic selection of architectural designs, objects and specially commissioned sound and video work.

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Opinion: The Chilean Pavilion Offers the 2018 Venice Biennale's Most Powerful Architectural Statement

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This article was originally published by Common Edge as "STADIUM: the Venice Biennale’s Most Powerful Architectural Statement."

The opening of the Venice Biennale has about it a general sense of raucousness and aesthetic cacophony. The entire scene is lush, almost overwhelmingly rich. There are thousands of places for eyes to land. There are outfits: the salty, wet Venice air manages to get at least a few architects to ditch the all-black outfit for its all-white summer counterpart, often cut through with brightly colored, geometric jewelry. There are events: at any given moment, at any point throughout the weekend, there’s a dozen or so architects gathered on a panel to talk about a topic relevant to a pavilion theme, or the edition theme, or to architecture generally. There are parties, picnics along canals, Aperol spritzes that glow bright orange, and designed-to-death tote bags that run out so quickly just carrying them is a sign that you were there, part of the early crowd, in the mix.

It’s all swirling and chaotic and bright and somehow you have to manage to pay attention to serious ideas about architecture while attempting to figure out how it’s possible that you’re still sweating even though it’s 4PM.

oxymoron / Sauerbruch Hutton

oxymoron / Sauerbruch Hutton  - Interior Photography, Installation, Facade, Beam, Arch, Columnoxymoron / Sauerbruch Hutton  - Installationoxymoron / Sauerbruch Hutton  - Interior Photography, Installation, Beamoxymoron / Sauerbruch Hutton  - Interior Photography, Installation, Stairs, Facade, Benchoxymoron / Sauerbruch Hutton  - More Images+ 13

  • Architects: Sauerbruch Hutton
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  20
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2018
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Kvadrat Soft Cells, iGuzzini, Axis, Axis Lighting, Pollmeier

Corte del Forte Dance Pavilion / Rintala Eggertsson Architects

Corte del Forte Dance Pavilion / Rintala Eggertsson Architects - PavilionCorte del Forte Dance Pavilion / Rintala Eggertsson Architects - PavilionCorte del Forte Dance Pavilion / Rintala Eggertsson Architects - PavilionCorte del Forte Dance Pavilion / Rintala Eggertsson Architects - PavilionCorte del Forte Dance Pavilion / Rintala Eggertsson Architects - More Images+ 40

Mestre, Venezia, Italy
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  190
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2018
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Artemide, Bezzi Legnami, Europlac, Hansen Protection, Nordlamell
  • Professionals: Rebiennale

Stefano Boeri Combats Rural Decline With Free Initiative

For the 2018 Venice Biennale, Stefano Boeri Architetti presents Slow Food Freespace, the first Slow Village to be constructed in Sichuan, China. Made in collaboration with Slow Food Movement, speakers Stefano Boeri and Carlo Petrini discussed the project at the event “Across Chinese Cities - The Community.”

For the Slow Food China project, Stefano Boeri Architetti has designed a school, a library and a small museum for the villages involved, free of charge. The program attempts to encourage millions of Chinese farmers to stay in their rural districts, combatting the unprecedented emigration to cities which has grown in the last few years. By offering educational facilities and cultural landmarks to these rural communities, it inspires the preservation of local culture and acknowledges the importance of the agricultural economy.

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10 Chapels in a Venice Forest Comprise The Vatican's First Ever Biennale Contribution

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Aerial view. Image

With the opening of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale comes a look at the first ever contribution by the Holy See, an exhibition that brings together architects to design chapels that, after the Biennale, can be relocated to sites around the globe.

Located in a wooded area on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore, 10 chapels by architects including Norman Foster, Eduardo Souto de Moura, and Smiljan Radic, are joined by the Asplund Chapel by MAP Architects. This 11th structure serves as a prelude to the other chapels, while reflecting on Gunnar Asplund's 1920 design for the Woodland Chapel.

Kenneth Frampton Awarded Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at 2018 Venice Biennale

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Kenneth Frampton. Image Courtesy of The Venice Biennale

British architect, historian, critic and educator Kenneth Frampton has been announced as this year’s recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2018 Venice Biennale. The decision was made by the Board of The Venice Biennale chaired by Paolo Baratta, upon recommendation from the Biennale’s curators, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects.

Having studied at the Architectural Association in London, Frampton has taught at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University, New York since 1972. He has also lectured at several leading institutions, including ETH Zurich, the Royal College of Art in London, and the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam. Perhaps his most influential work, “Modern Architecture: A Critical History,” was described by Biennale President Paulo Baratta as a book which “no student of the faculties of architecture is unfamiliar with.”

Venice Biennale 2018: Collateral Events Announced

The Venice Biennale has released a list of 13 Collateral Events that will take place alongside the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, FREESPACE, curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara and chaired by Paolo Baratta. Previews of the main event begin May 24th and 25th, with the exhibition open to the public from May 26th to November 25th, 2018.

The collateral events, each promoted by a non-profit sponsor, will take place across the city in an attempt to enrich the diversity of voices that characterize the Biennale. 

The complete list of events can be found below, and make sure to follow ArchDaily's complete coverage of the Venice Biennale.

Foster + Partners Reveal "Sanctuary" Chapel for Vatican Pavilion at Venice Biennale

Foster + Partners has released details of their proposed chapel to form part of the Vatican’s inaugural entry to the Venice Biennale. The Holy See Pavilion will comprise ten chapels designed by ten architects, to be situated on the Venetian Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Among the architects contributing to the circuit of chapels are Foster + Partners, Eduardo Souto de Mourao, and Francesco Cellini.

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2018 Venice Biennale Reveals Further Details About This Year's Theme, "Freespace"

At a press conference earlier today, curators of the 2018 Venice Biennale Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects revealed more information about this year's upcoming event, to be hosted from May 26th to November 25th. Building on the thematic concept the duo presented last June—“Freespace”—the event will feature a main exhibition in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini and the Arsenale featuring work by 71 participants, while two Special Sections will feature a total of 29 further participants. Elsewhere, 65 national pavilions will present contributions from around the world, including 7 first-time participants: Antigua & Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Lebanon, Mongolia, Pakistan and the Holy See.

UAE Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale to Explore Human-scale Landscapes and Social Spaces

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage we present the proposal for the UAE Pavilion. Below, the participants describe their contribution in their own words.

The National Pavilion UAE will present “Lifescapes Beyond Bigness,” an exhibition exploring human-scale architectural landscapes, at the 2018 Venice Biennale. The exhibition aims to highlight the role of architecture and urban design in forming the choreography of people’s daily routines. It particularly investigates the role of ‘quotidian’ (every day) landscapes in accommodating, enhancing, and facilitating social activities across different places in the UAE.