Archinect - Features

Uniting the peripheral and the central at the 2016 Venice Biennale

2016-06-18T10:13:00-04:00

How architects are educated, and the role they play in society, are key questions of today. As an architecture teacher, I ask my students how they see their role; are they makers, choreographers, gardeners, enablers, artists? This year’s Venice Biennale asks, and tries to answer, the same question. There are many different answers.

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.”

One student's solution to the permanent limbo of refugee camps

2016-06-08T08:37:00-04:00

As conflicts continue to rage in the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere, millions of people have found themselves without papers, a state, or a home. Architecture is directly implicated in this humanitarian crisis—providing shelter is, after all, a primary onus of the disciple—and it’s taken notice, as the projects rolling out of Venice make clear.

An alternative, smart "Homestead" for Kansas City

2016-06-06T13:43:00-04:00

What makes a truly smart city? Just as importantly, how do designers help revitalize older urban cores without repeating past mistakes that led to displacement and inequitable urbanism? These are some of the questions raised in Andrew Bruno's master's thesis project for the New Jersey Institute of Technology, submitted to May's open-call for equitable architecture proposals.

Book review: "Entr'acte: Performing Publics, Pervasive Media, and Architecture"

2016-06-05T18:27:00-04:00

During the month of May, inspired in part by the theme of Alejandro Aravena’s Venice Biennale, Reporting from the Front, Archinect’s coverage has included a special focus on socially-engaged practices and, accordingly, hosted many conversations about how and why architects should engage with the public. Yet largely absent from this discussion is the question of who or what constitutes the public today.

Examining the 2016 Venice Biennale: "Sarajevo Now"

2016-05-28T10:15:00-04:00

During the early days of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we've spoken with the curators of a few select pavilions to get a read on the ideas behind their exhibitions. For this feature, we share our conversation with Alfredo Brillembourg of Urban-Think Tank and Nina Baier-Bischofberger of Baier Bischofberger about their project, Sarajevo Now.

paraSITE: the bandage over the nomadic wound

2016-05-27T11:04:00-04:00

Using the air discharged from publicly accessible HVAC units, artist Michael Rakowitz has created a series of inflatable temporary plastic shelters for the homeless he calls “paraSITE.” The work, which began in 1998 and was later added to the MoMA’s Architecture and Design online collection, is both a form of social protest and an ingenious, budget-conscious design (most units cost around $5 to construct).

Previewing the 2016 Venice Biennale: Anupama Kundoo's "Building Knowledge"

2016-05-26T12:14:00-04:00

In advance of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we've spoken with the curators behind a few select pavilions to check in on the status of their exhibitions. For this feature, we spoke with Anupama Kundoo about her project, Building Knowledge.

How 4 US cities are applying architectural solutions to homelessness

2016-05-23T18:29:00-04:00

Housing First, a federal policy for ending chronic homelessness that grew out of initiatives in Los Angeles and New York in the late 1980s and early 1990s, provides what appears to be the most effective solution to homelessness in the United States: actually housing people. Since implementing Housing First programs in Utah in 2005, Salt Lake City reported up to a 91% reduction in their rate of the chronically homeless.

Photographing the 'Jungle' of Calais' refugee camp

2016-05-20T10:20:00-04:00

The northernmost vertex in the hexagon of Metropolitan France, the port city of Calais is nearly 100 kilometers closer to Brussels than to Paris. On a clear day, you can see the White Cliffs of Dover, one of the most iconic of England’s natural wonders, from its shores. Several centuries ago, Calais belonged to the English crown—its “greatest jewel.” More recently, the Germans seized it and then razed it. Calais is, in a way, the quintessential European border town. Here, Europe’s incessant identity crises and territorial struggles surface in physical form.

Previewing the 2016 Venice Biennale: the United States' "Architectural Imagination"

2016-05-17T17:01:00-04:00

In advance of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we've spoken with the curators behind a few select pavilions to check in on the status of their exhibitions. For this feature, we share our conversation with Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon of the American Pavilion, "The Architectural Imagination".

Previewing the 2016 Venice Biennale: Spain's "Unfinished"

2016-05-12T11:37:00-04:00

Iñaqui Carnicero, principal of RICA Studio, has been selected along with Carlos Quintáns to co-curate the Spanish Pavilion at the 2016 Architecture Biennale in Venice, “Reporting from the Front”. Iñaqui is active both in the academic field and in professional practice, which he combines to push the limits of architectural explorations.

How 'Chicks with Bricks' finds female solidarity (and humour) in the UK's building industry

2016-05-04T11:06:00-04:00

With an easy to remember name, an inclusive attitude and a pragmatic sense of duty, Chicks with Bricks has been holding networking events in London since 2005 with the aim of inspiring and connecting women in architecture and construction.

Previewing the 2016 Venice Biennale: the British Pavilion's "Home Economics"

2016-05-03T02:03:00-04:00

In advance of the 2016 Venice Biennale, we've spoken with the curators behind a few select pavilions to see how they're grappling with Alejandro Aravena's theme, "Reporting from the Front". For this feature, we spoke with the curators behind the British Pavilion, "Home Economics".