Archinect - News

"The Architectural Imagination" Venice Biennale participants revealed

2016-03-02T15:56:00-05:00

Twelve firms, including Greg Lynn Form, MOS Architects, Preston Scott Cohen Inc., and Zago Architecture have been selected by curators Cynthia Davidson and Mónica Ponce de León to create speculative architectural presentations for the 2016 U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. The presentations will be based on four real-world Detroit sites: Dequindre Cut/Eastern Market at 1923 Division Street, Mexicantown at 6370 Vernor Highway, the US Post Office at 1401 West Fort Street, and the Packard Plant at East Grand Boulevard and Concord Avenue.

According to a press release, the idea behind the exhibition is to demonstrate "the creativity and resourcefulness of architecture to address the social and environmental issues of the 21st century" and will have applications beyond the specific sites featured. As previously mentioned at Archinect, at the exhibition twenty photographs of Detroit submitted via a contest designed to tell a larger narrative about the city will be available in postcard ...

Winning "My Detroit" postcard photos for the 2016 U.S. Venice Biennale Pavilion revealed

2016-02-25T21:03:00-05:00

The 2016 U.S. Venice Biennale Pavilion is one step closer to becoming a reality with today's reveal of the 'My Detroit' postcard photo competition winners...[Out of 463 entries, the winning photos] were considered as unique individual depictions of Detroit that could also collectively tell a larger story about the present-day city. The photographs will then be printed as postcards and distributed to visitors when the Biennale opens in May.

See more of the photos over on Bustler.

"Second Season, Second City" – A discussion of the Chicago Architecture Biennial with Cynthia Davidson of Log, on Archinect Sessions #41

2015-11-05T20:11:00-05:00

It's great to be back. Our second season of Archinect Sessions premieres today in a new, shorter format, with an episode devoted to the Chicago Architecture Biennial, and featuring special guest Cynthia Davidson, director of Log and co-curator of the US Pavilion for the 2016 Venice Biennale. Keep a look out as well for more Mini-Sessions, featuring interviews from the Biennial.

In other podcasting news, we're going to be launching a brand new podcast early next week, focusing exclusively on interviews. You can keep up-to-date on all our podcasting news by following us on Twitter, @archsessions, and let us know what you think by rating us on iTunes.

Listen to episode 41 of Archinect Sessions, "Second season, Second City":

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U.S. Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale, "The Architectural Imagination", now open for submissions

2015-07-17T14:51:00-04:00

Start sharpening those pencils – the US Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Biennale is now open for submissions. The Pavilion's theme of "The Architectural Imagination", curated by Monica Ponce de Leon and Cynthia Davidson, is looking for projects sited particularly in Detroit, while still having global potentials. The curators will commission a total of 12 domestic practices to be exhibited at the Biennale's US pavilion, as well as include them in a special "cataLog" issue of Log journal.

The US Pavilion's website's landing page features a photograph of Diego Rivera's "Detroit Industry" fresco (1932-33), referring to the curators' agenda to consider Detroit from its legacy as "a center of American imagination, not only for the products it made but also for its modern architecture and modern lifestyle, which captivated audiences worldwide."

In order to be considered, applicants must either themselves be an architect with US citizenship, or include one on their team, as well as have at least ...

Monica Ponce de Leon and Cynthia Davidson will curate US Pavilion at 2016 Venice Biennale

2015-06-18T15:26:00-04:00

The U.S. pavilion's exhibition, "The Architectural Imagination", will focus on Detroit as a case study for architectural interventions worldwide, with keen interest in "creativity and resourcefulness", according to a press release issued from the University of Michigan. Co-curators Cynthia Davidson, editor of Log journal, and Monica Ponce de Leon, dean of Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, will select architectural projects that address the pressing issues of 21st century cities, and engage with specific sites in Detroit.

Taubman was selected to organize the U.S. pavilion by the Department of State, and "The Architectural Imagination" theme was the result of an open competition led by The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, official managers of the U.S.'s role at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale.

By the time the Biennale actually takes place, Ponce de Leon will no longer be at Taubman – effective January 1, 2016, she will serve as dean at Princeton's arch...