With the 2018 Venice Biennale only two months away, curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara and Biennale president Paolo Baratta revealed the latest details about the exhibition during a press conference today. The 2018 theme “Freespace” presents “a generosity of spirit and a sense of humanity at the core of architecture's agenda, focusing on the quality of space itself.”

“We see architecture as the translation of need in its widest sense into meaningful space. In the effort to translate Freespace into the many wonderful languages of the world, we hope that it prises open the ‘gift’ which architectural invention has the potential to contribute with each project,” Farrell and McNamara said. “Translation allows us all to map and rename intellectual as well as actual territory. It is our hope that the word Freespace allows us to burrow into the aspirations, ambitions and generosity of architecture.”

The Freespace exhibition will feature 71 participants with two additional Special Sections that include 29 more participants. The first section, “Close Encounter”, showcases projects that reflect on well-known buildings of the past. “The Practice of Teaching” section highlights works developed from teaching experiences.

As for the anticipated National Pavilions at the Giardini, the 2018 edition comprises 65 participants. Seven countries will make their Architecture Biennale debut: Antigua & Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Lebanon, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Vatican City.

Additionally, two special projects will be displayed: 

Curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, the Forte Marghera in Mestre will have an installation — by architects Sami Rintala and Dagur Eggertsson — that will host a series of events.

A collaboration between the Venice Biennale and London's Victoria and Albert Museum, the Applied Arts Pavilion will be in Sale d’Armi in the Arsenale. Curated by Christopher Turner and Olivia Horsfall Turner, the Pavilion contemplates the future of social housing by presenting a part of the Robin Hood Gardens social housing estate, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in East London and completed in 1972. 

Farrell and McNamara also curated the “Meetings on Architecture” series, which will present opportunities to discuss the various interpretations of the Freespace manifesto. The Biennale Sessions for university group visits will make its return, along with a public program of guided tours, workshops, and other educational activities. The 2018 Biennale will be open to the public from May 26-November 25.

Revisit Archinect's extensive coverage on previous Venice Biennale exhibitions here.