Archinect - Features

Make room, make room: Aravena's Venice Biennale juggles inclusivity with individuality

2016-06-15T10:11:00-04:00

The call for the 15th La Biennale Architettura di Venezia, “Reporting from the Front,” asked architecture to give a damn. It did so as an expression of dissatisfaction with past performances, and by attempting to showcase remedies, all under the curatorial leadership of 2016 Pritzker Prize winner, Alejandro Aravena.

Aravena's discomforting Venice Biennale: taking on "Reporting from the Front"

2016-06-13T12:28:00-04:00

This year’s International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale feels refreshing. It showcases, for the most part, attempts at real architecture for real people. Titled Reporting from the Front, the Biennale is curated by 2016 Pritzker Prize winner Alejandro Aravena, and has a fresh lineup of new faces and alternative practices. It puts the spotlight on those who work on the ground to prove that architecture can make a difference. As president Paolo Baratta states, the Biennale presents “creativity and hope in the here-and-now, not in some uncertain aspirational, ideological future.”

Why is the Pritzker such a big deal?

2016-01-27T07:01:00-05:00

First awarded in 1979 to Philip Johnson, the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize has become the profession’s top award. But why?