Gizmag was fortunate enough to attend this year’s 13th International Architecture Exhibition, organized by the Venice Biennale. The exhibition, which opened on the 29th of August, showcases 69 projects made by architects, photographers, artists, critics and scholars from around the globe and based on the theme of Common Ground.
“With this year’s theme, Common Ground, we go back to talking about architecture,” said the Biennale chairman Paolo Baratta. “Offering the public a chance to look inside architecture, make it familiar and discover that something can be asked of it [and] that something different is possible.”
For over a century, the Venice Biennale has been a distinguished cultural institution, dating back to 1895 when the first International Art Exhibition was organized. During the past 30 years, the Biennale has given increased attention to its Architecture event, with the first exhibition being held in 1975.
This year’s showcase has been put together under the direction of British architect David Chipperfield, and is complimented by 55 national participants. Spread across 10,000 square meters (107,639 square ft), from the international pavilions at the Giardini to the exhibitions space at Arsenale in Venice, Italy, the event is a wonderland of architectural mastery and creative visions for the future.
“Italy remains the spiritual home of architecture,” said Chipperfield. “Here we can fully understand the importance of buildings not as individual spectacles but as the manifestations of collective values and as the setting for daily life [...] With this in mind, I was inspired to direct this Biennale towards concerns of continuity, context and memory [...] and to address the apparent lack of understanding that exists between the profession and society.”
The 13th International Architecture Exhibition is open to the public until Sunday November 25th, but if you don't have a trip to Venice planned you can head to our gallery for lots more pics and a taste of the fascinating installations gracing the Venice pavilions.
