Archinect - Features

Archinect's Guide to the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale: Part I — The National Pavilions

2023-06-06T14:17:00-04:00

With the opening week of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale now passed, there has been much discussion and media coverage of the anticipated international exhibition. It's safe to imply that the high-profile event aims to highlight, unveil, celebrate, and at times, provoke new and further existing discourse surrounding architecture. It can, however, be daunting to navigate the scene as a whole, especially for those who are learning about the pavilions, installations, participants, and overall event programming from afar.

To help Archinect readers who can only experience this year's Biennale virtually, we've created a handy reference guide to provide visuals and added context. In this two-part mini-feature series, we provide a summary and context for this year's exhibition theme, The Laboratory of the Future. Our guide offers a breakdown of important figures that make up the event, a list of participants, pavilions and installations, and upcoming events, as well as critical takes...

The Venice Biennale Pressed Pause, While Everyone Else Changed the Game

2021-06-29T08:42:00-04:00

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we live, work, and interact has transformed. The architecture world has been forced to adapt in tandem, with our means of design, communication, and education all undergoing rapid changes. Though set against a tragic backdrop, this forced evolution of the industry has opened new avenues for the future of work and education which were either unproven or unconsidered before the pandemic. However, while the rest of the industry evolved, the 2020 Venice Biennale chose to delay its opening date in order to proceed with its traditional format. This opinion piece reflects on how the Biennale may have missed a once-in-a-generation opportunity to radically reform how it promotes contemporary architectural trends, and in doing so, address long-held concerns over its relevance, accessibility, and environmental impact.

Venice Architecture Biennale for Beginners; Making the most of your trip to Venice

2018-04-11T12:20:00-04:00

The 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale is just around the corner, opening to the public on May 26. From then until its closing on November 25, this year’s exhibition titled FREESPACE will have architects flocking from around the world to see it. Set in a stunning but already overcrowded place, the Biennale can be a hectic experience for newcomers and seasoned visitors alike.

You say Biennial, I say Biennale: 9 of Today’s Most Critical Architecture Biennials

2017-04-06T12:50:00-04:00

Every two years, hundreds of thousands flock to the historic small islands of Venice, where history and art meet to give us one of the most influential fixtures in the architectural world—The Venice Biennale of Architecture. While originally a more specialized art-world affair, biennials now figure in the larger cultural menu drawing huge crowds and the exhibitionary format, occurring every other year, has proliferated in the past two decades offering the field myriad options for getting one's expo fix.

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.”