June 07, 2016

VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2016: ARSENALE & GIARDINI ENTRY’S DESIGN BY ALEJANDRO ARAVENA




VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2016: ARSENALE & GIARDINI ENTRY’S 
DESIGN BY ALEJANDRO ARAVENA 
May 28, 2016 - November 27, 2016




VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2016: ARSENALE & GIARDINI ENTRY’S 
DESIGN BY ALEJANDRO ARAVENA 
May 28, 2016 - November 27, 2016
Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena has used over 90 tonnes of waste generated by the Venice Art Biennale 2015 to create two introductory rooms for this year's architecture event.
The Elemental founder, who curated the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016, created installations in the first rooms of both the Arsenale and Central Pavilion venues using seven miles of scrap metal and 10,000-square-metres of plasterboard leftover from last year's Art Biennale.
"The opening halls of Biennale Architettura 2016 were built with 100 tons of waste material generated by the previous Biennale," said a statement from Aravena.
Lengths of crumpled metal channelling are suspended vertically from the ceiling like fringing in the first room of the Arsenale – a 300-metre-long building on the eastern side of Venice that once operated as the rope works of a shipyard, but is now used as one of the Biennale's two primary venues.
Similarly, the walls are covered by stacks of multi-tonal plasterboard that incorporate display shelves.
A similar installation is also hosted in the foyer of the Central Pavilion, which is located in the Giardini.
Venice's Art and Architecture Biennales take place on alternate years in the Arsenale and the Giardini.
Aravena's title for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 is Reporting From The Front – a theme intended to encourage architects to address some of the most important global issues. His star-studded list of contributors include Tadao Ando, Peter Zumthor, David Chipperfield and SANAA.
Wide-ranging interpretation of the theme has resulted in installations and exhibits dealing with economic crisis, housing, waste, migration and robotic construction.
I had taken all the photographs from Dezeen and World Architecture’ web page.






















































THE VENICE BIENNALE ARCHITECTURE 2016




THE VENICE BIENNALE ARCHITECTURE 2016
Open to the public from Saturday May 28th to Sunday November 27th 2016 at the Giardini and the Arsenale, the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, titled REPORTING FROM THE FRONT, will be directed by Alejandro Aravena and organized by La Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta. The preview will take place on May 26th and 27th, the awards ceremony and inauguration will be held on Saturday May 28th 2016.
The Exhibition will also include 63 National Participations in the historic Pavilions at the Giardini, at the Arsenale and in the historic city centre of Venice. Four countries will be participating for the first time: Philippines, Nigeria, Seychelles and Yemen.
The Italian Pavilion at the Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale, sponsored and promoted by the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo, Direzione Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane, has been assigned to the curatorial team TAM associati: Massimo Lepore, Raul Pantaleo, and Simone Sfriso.
The International Exhibition
The Exhibition REPORTING FROM THE FRONT will be laid out in a unitary exhibition sequence from the Central Pavilion (Giardini) to the Arsenale, and will include 88 participants from 37 different countries. 50 of them will be participating for the first time, and 33 architects are under the age of 40.
“The lady on the ladder who, climbing up onto the highest steps can gaze over a far broader horizon, and by doing so conquers an “expanded eye”, announces the Biennale Architettura 2016 curated by Alejandro Aravena. We immediately loved this picture – stated President Paolo Baratta - because in a way it represents la Biennale as a whole, with our attitudes and our goals.
“It is also in part a counterpoint to the image chosen for the most recent Biennale Arte. The symbol selected last year by Okwui Enwezor – Baratta noted - was Paul Klee’s famous “Angelus Novus” as interpreted by Walter Benjamin; the winged angel looking backwards in shock, seeing only the past and in the past, debris and tragedy, but also insights that could be useful some day, in a future towards which the hidden forces of providence are driving him, like a wind blowing on his wings.”
“What does the lady see? I think - commented Baratta -mainly desolated land comprising immense swathes of human habitation which no human could be proud of; great disappointments representing a sad, infinite number of missed opportunities for humanity’s ability to act intelligently. Much of this is tragic, much is banal, and it seems to mark the end of architecture. But she also sees signs of creativity and hope, and she sees them in the here-and-now, not in some uncertain aspirational, ideological future.”
“Is this a sign of optimism? We have often deplored, in previous Biennale Exhibitions – the President recalled – that our present time seems to be characterised by increasing disconnection between architecture and civil society. Previous Exhibitions have addressed this in different ways. This time, we wish to investigate more explicitly whether and where there are any trends going in the other direction, towards renewal; we are seeking out encouraging messages.”
“And we are not just interested in exhibiting concrete results for critical appraisal. We also want to see into the phenomenology of how these positive examples came about. In other words: what drives the demand for architecture; how are needs and desires identified and expressed; which logical, institutional, legal, political and administrative processes lead to demand for architecture and how they allow architecture to come up with solutions which go beyond the banal and self-harming.”
“Because this is clearly a serious impasse; not as much in architecture as a discipline, but in human organisation, in our ability to harness it, be saved by it and enter into dialogue with it.”
“We feel the need to highlight how positive outcomes have been achieved through the evolution of decision-making chains which link need - awareness - opportunity - choice - execution in a way that leads to a result where “architecture makes the difference”, as Aravena puts it.”
“We are not interested in architecture as the manifestation of a formal style, but rather as an instrument of self-government, of humanist civilisation, and as a demonstration of the ability of humans to become masters of their own destinies.”
“Architecture in action as an instrument of social and political life, challenges us to assess the public consequences of private actions at a more fundamental level.”
“Presenting architecture in action is also one of the answers to the permanent question raised by La Biennale. What is an architecture exhibition? – asked Baratta. And what should an architecture biennale be? In the Biennale Arte, which is the parent of the Biennale Architettura, the works are there in front of the visitors; with an architecture exhibition, the works are elsewhere. What should there be here? And indeed, the search goes on. We must avoid turning into a magazine, a convention, a critical essay, or a place for specialists alone: an exhibition just for architects. We also need to avoid condescension and falling into the trap whereby architects are tempted to present themselves as artists.”
“We need to engage with the public and with all possible stakeholders in the decisions and actions whereby our living spaces are created, both as individuals and as communities. As Architecture is the most political of all the arts - concluded the President - "the Biennale Architettura must recognise this.”




“In his trip to South America – related Alejandro Aravena - Bruce Chatwin encountered an old lady walking the desert carrying an aluminium ladder on her shoulder. It was German archaeologist Maria Reiche studying the Nazca lines. Standing on the ground, the stones did not make any sense; they were just random gravel. But from the height of the stair those stones became a bird, a jaguar, a tree or a flower. “
Aravena thus expressed his hope that the Biennale Architettura 2016 might “offer a new point of view like the one Maria Reiche has on the ladder. Given the complexity and variety of challenges that architecture has to respond to, REPORTING FROM THE FRONT will be about listening to those that were able to gain some perspective and consequently are in the position to share some knowledge and experiences with those of us standing on the ground.”
“We believe  - explained Aravena - that the advancement of architecture is not a goal in itself but a way to improve people’s quality of life. Given that life ranges from very basic physical needs to the most intangible dimensions of the human condition, consequently, improving the quality of the built environment is an endeavour that has to tackle many fronts: from guaranteeing very concrete, down-to-earth living standards to interpreting and fulfilling human desires, from respecting the single individual to taking care of the common good, from efficiently hosting daily activities to expanding the frontiers of civilization.“
The curator’s proposal is therefore twofold: “on the one hand we would like to widen the range of issues to which architecture is expected to respond, adding explicitly to the cultural and artistic dimensions that already belong to our scope, those that are on the social, political, economical and environmental end of the spectrum. On the other hand, we would like to highlight the fact that architecture is called to respond to more than one dimension at a time, integrating a variety of fields instead of choosing one or another.”
“REPORTING FROM THE FRONT will be about sharing with a broader audience, the work of people who are scrutinizing the horizon looking for new fields of action, facing issues like segregation, inequalities, peripheries, access to sanitation, natural disasters, housing shortage, migration, informality, crime, traffic, waste, pollution and the participation of communities. And simultaneously it will be about presenting examples where different dimensions are synthesized, integrating the pragmatic with the existential, pertinence and boldness, creativity and common sense. “
“It is not easy – concluded Aravena – to achieve such a level of expansion and synthesis; they are battles that need to be fought. The always menacing scarcity of means, the ruthless constraints, the lack of time and urgencies of all kinds are a constant threat that explain why we so often fall short in delivering quality. The forces that shape the built environment are not necessarily amicable either: the greed and impatience of capital or the single mindedness and conservatism of the bureaucracy tend to produce banal, mediocre and dull built environments. These are the frontlines from which we would like different practitioners to report, sharing success stories and exemplary cases where architecture did, is and will make a difference.”
http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/exhibition/15/
























THE VENICE BIENNALE ARCHITECTURE 2016


















































VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2016
CURATED BY ALEJANDRO ARAVENA 
In his trip to South America Bruce Chatwin encountered an old lady walking the desert carrying an aluminum ladder on her shoulder. It was German archeologist Maria Reiche studying the Nazca lines. Standing on the ground, the stones did not make any sense; they were just random gravel. But from the height of the stair those stones became a bird, a jaguar, a tree or a flower.
We would like the Biennale Architettura 2016 to offer a new point of view like the one Maria Reiche has on the ladder. Given the complexity and variety of challenges that architecture has to respond to, REPORTING FROM THE FRONT will be about listening to those that were able to gain some perspective and consequently are in the position to share some knowledge and experiences with those of us standing on the ground.
We believe that the advancement of architecture is not a goal in itself but a way to improve people’s quality of life. Given life ranges from very basic physical needs to the most intangible dimensions of the human condition, consequently, improving the quality of the built environment is an endeavor that has to tackle many fronts: from guaranteeing very concrete, down-to-earth living standards to interpreting and fulfilling human desires, from respecting the single individual to taking care of the common good, from efficiently hosting daily activities to expanding the frontiers of civilization.
Our curatorial proposal is twofold: on the one hand we would like to widen the range of issues to which architecture is expected to respond, adding explicitly to the cultural and artistic dimensions that already belong to our scope, those that are on the social, political, economical and environmental end of the spectrum. On the other hand, we would like to highlight the fact that architecture is called to respond to more than one dimension at the time, integrating a variety of fields instead of choosing one or another.
REPORTING FROM THE FRONT will be about sharing with a broader audience, the work of people that are scrutinizing the horizon looking for new fields of action, facing issues like segregation, inequalities, peripheries, access to sanitation, natural disasters, housing shortage, migration, informality, crime, traffic, waste, pollution and participation of communities. And simultaneously will be about presenting examples where different dimensions are synthesized, integrating the pragmatic with the existential, pertinence and boldness, creativity and common sense.
Such expansion and synthesis are not easy to achieve; they are battles that need to be fought. The always menacing scarcity of means, the ruthless constraints, the lack of time and urgencies of all kinds are a constant threat that explain why we so often fall short in delivering quality. The forces that shape the built environment are not necessarily amicable either: the greed and impatience of capital or the single mindedness and conservatism of the bureaucracy tend to produce banal, mediocre and dull built environments. These are the frontlines from which we would like different practitioners to report from, sharing success stories and exemplary cases where architecture did, is and will make a difference.
Alejandro Aravena
http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/exhibition/aravena/




CURATOR ALEJANDRO ARAVENA & DIRECTOR PAOLO BARATTA  






DIRECTOR PAOLO BARATTA & CURATOR ALEJANDRO ARAVENA








ELEMENTAL
(Alejandro Aravena, Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó, Diego Torres) is a Do Tank founded in 2001, focusing on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation. A hallmark of the firm is a participatory design process in which the architects work closely with the public and end users. ELEMENTAL has built work in Chile, The United States, Mexico, China and Switzerland. After the 2010 earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile, ELEMENTAL was called to work on the reconstruction of the city of Constitución, where we had to integrate all the previous experiences. The approach we developed proved to be useful for other cases where city design was used to solve social and political conflicts. At the moment, we keep on expanding into new fields of action.






ALEJANDRO ARAVENA
Alejandro Aravena was born on June 22, 1967, in Santiago, Chile. He graduated as an architect from the Universidad Católica de Chile in 1992. In 1994, he established his own practice, Alejandro Aravena Architects. Since 2001 he has been leading ELEMENTAL, a “Do Tank” focusing on projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure, and transportation.
ELEMENTAL has built work in Chile, The United States, Mexico, China and Switzerland. After the 2010 earthquake and tsunami that hit Chile, ELEMENTAL was called to work on the reconstruction of the city of Constitucion, Chile. Aravena's partners in ELEMENTAL are Gonzalo Arteaga, Juan Cerda, Victor Oddó and Diego Torres.
Alejandro Aravena is the Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016. He was a speaker at TED Global in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2014. He was a member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury from 2009 to 2015.
In 2010 he was named International Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and identified as one of the 20 new heroes of the world by Monocle magazine. He is a Board Member of the Cities Program of the London School of Economics since 2011; Regional Advisory Board Member of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies; Board Member of the Swiss Holcim Foundation since 2013; Foundational Member of the Chilean Public Policies Society; and Leader of the Helsinki Design Lab for SITRA, the Finnish Government Innovation Fund. He was one of the 100 personalities contributing to the Rio +20 Global Summit in 2012.
Aravena was a Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (2000 and 2005); and also taught at Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (2005), Architectural Association in London (1999), and London School of Economics. He has held the ELEMENTAL Copec Chair at Universidad Católica de Chile since 2006.
Author of Los Hechos de la Arquitectura ( Architectural Facts, 1999 ), El Lugar de la Arquitectura ( The Place in/of Architecture, 2002 ) and Material de Arquitectura ( Architecture Matters, 2003 ). His work has been published in more than 50 countries, Electa published the monograph Alejandro Aravena; progettare e costruire ( Milan, 2007 ) and Toto published Alejandro Aravena; the Forces in Architecture ( Tokyo, 2011 ). Hatje-Cantz published the first monograph dedicated to the social housing projects of ELEMENTAL: Incremental Housing and Participatory Design Manual ( Berlin, 2012 ) launched at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia.