Archinect - News 2024-12-25T02:52:25-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149947992/dispatch-from-the-venice-biennale-cool-kids-and-guerrilla-interventions Dispatch from the Venice Biennale: 'Cool' kids and guerrilla interventions Laura Amaya 2016-05-27T18:05:00-04:00 >2016-06-03T00:21:01-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/gg/ggty9d0tkd9u0h4x.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>The general atmosphere at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, <em>Reporting from the Front</em>, is one of excitement, of subversion. The Fifteenth edition of the Biennale explicitly calls for instances where architecture is an &ldquo;instrument of self-government, of humanist civilization, and a demonstration of the ability of humans to become masters of their own destinies.&rdquo; In that spirit, the usual suspects of a Biennale move to the sidelines, giving way to those working on the ground to prove that architecture can make a difference.</p><p><em>Cool Capital</em>, the <a href="http://southafrican2016pavilion.co.za/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">South Africa Pavilion</a> at the Arsenale, brings Pretoria to the limelight by challenging the historical interaction between citizens and public space. &ldquo;Pretoria has a huge political baggage and negative connotation&rdquo;<em>, </em>curator Pieter Mathews explains, adding that &ldquo;guerrilla interventions want to look at the city with new eyes; take whatever is good from the past and use it.&rdquo; The Pavilion features selected works from the <a href="http://www.coolcapital.co.za/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cool Capital platform</a>&mdash;the fi...</p>