Finding Common Ground at the Venice Biennale: Practice What You Preach, Mr. Prix
Wolf Prix. (Elfie Semotan)
“Venice Architecture Biennale ‘cannot get any worse’ says Wolf D. Prix,” read the headline on Dezeen’s August 30 wire post. In a press release titled “The Banal,” Prix declared that that architects participating in the biennale are “playing” while the profession is “sinking into powerlessness and irrelevance” at the hands of politicians, bureaucrats, and investors.
The broadside caused a stir in Venice during he opening and in the blogosphere but now it appears that Prix was never in Venice for the biennale in the first place and thus had not seen the exhibition he denounced. His office claims that Prix has been misunderstood and “the critique addressed the theme of the exhibition, not the show or its execution,” according to a spokesperson for the firm.
Fine Feathers? Artists Paint Venice Pigeons Vibrant Colors
“Pigeon Safari” by Julian Charrière and Julius von Bismark. (Courtesy the artists)
Between glass curtain walls and art installations, birds just can’t catch a break. For their Venice Architecture Biennale project Pigeon Safari Swiss artist Julian Charrière and German photographer Julius von Bismark captured, airbrushed, then released the pigeons of St. Mark’s Square. The resulting rainbow-colored flock has caused Biennale-goers and tourists alike to do a double take. Charrière told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, “Pigeons make up part of our urban landscape, but we view them as though they are an unrecognizable mass, whereas each one has its own identity.” While a newly teal pigeon may imagine itself a peacock, conservationists expressed concern that the birds’ unusual colors would deter mating.
Golden Lions Awarded Amid Divisive Venice Biennale
Torre David / Gran Horizonte, 2012, Urban-Think Tank (Alfredo Brillembourg, Hubert Klumpner), Justin McGuirk. (Francesco Galli/Courtesy la Biennale di Venezia)
It’s been a hot and highly stimulating few days at the Venice Biennale. David Chipperfield’s theme, “Common Ground,” which sought to establish connections across architecture culture, has proven surprising divisive. Some loved the elegant progression of projects in the Arsenale, which included everything from expressionist displays by Zaha Hadid, to neo-postmodern confections by FAT, to a hand built house by Anupama Kundoo, all of which managed to mingle thanks to Chipperfield’s tasteful curation.
Some formalists griped that the show was regressive, while more socially engaged architects thought it too estheticizing. Still, every Biennale must crown its winners. This year’s Golden Lion for the international exhibition went to Torre David/Gran Horizante by Urban-Think Tank (Alfredo Brillembourg and Herbert Klumpner) and Justin McGuirk, an investigation, featuring photography by Iwan Baan, of an informal community built in an abandoned, unfinished skyscraper in Caracas. The team created an bar inside the Arsenale which featured food, music, drinks, and neon lights to showcase their work and transform the atmosphere of the overall exhibition.
Special Coverage from the 2012 Venice Biennale, Issue 3
The Architect’s Newspaper is on the ground in Italy for the 2012 Venice Biennale. Here’s the third edition of a three-part series on the best of the Biennale, brought to you by The Architect’s Newspaperand Il Giornale Dell’Architettura. (You may also view the first issue and the second issue.)
Special Coverage from the 2012 Venice Biennale, Issue 2
The Architect’s Newspaper is on the ground in Italy for the 2012 Venice Biennale. Here’s the second edition of a three-part series on the best of the Biennale, brought to you by The Architect’s Newspaperand Il Giornale Dell’Architettura. (View the first issue here.)
A Rough Commute in Venice
Alan Brake and Julie Iovine in Venice. (The Architect’s Newspaper)
While we editors toil in a rainy New York City (and Chicago and LA), AN‘s outgoing executive editor Julie V. Iovine and incoming executive editor Alan G. Brake (and editor-in-chief William Menking, photographer) are dealing with their own challenges, like their daily commute to the Venice Biennale by boat. Thanks for sharing, guys!
Whether you’re in Venice this week or just checking in on the highlights from afar, stay up to date with AN‘s special coverage from the Venice Biennale. We posted the first of three editions published on the ground in Italy this morning and will have two more issues coming your way later this week. Ciao!
DS+R and OLIN’s “Granite Web” Fails to Ensnare Aberdeen
Diller Scofidio + Renfro and OLIN’s web-like park and culture center in Scotland has been rejected by City Council. (Courtesy DS+R)
In a tightly contested decision, the City of Aberdeen, Scotland has decided not to move forward with a dramatic $222 million renovation of Union Terrace Gardens designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and OLIN. The 22 to 20 vote may have brushed aside the so-called “Granite Web,” but it did retain the principals behind the design for whatever future plans are built on the site, including better pedestrian access, a revamped city council chambers, and a new art gallery. Council Lead Councilor Barney Crockett said the project “never won the whole-hearted acceptance of the people of Aberdeen.” [Via World Architecture News.]
Special Coverage from the 2012 Venice Biennale, Issue 1
The Architect’s Newspaper is on the ground in Italy for the 2012 Venice Biennale. Here’s the first edition of a three-part series on the best of the Biennale, brought to you by The Architect’s Newspaper and Il Giornale Dell’Architettura.
FreelandBuck’s Slipstream Installation Hits The Auction Block
Slipstream installation at the Bridge Gallery in New York by FreelandBuck. (Courtesy FreelandBuck)
Inspired by Lebbeus Woods’ “Slipstreaming” drawing series envisioning the dynamics of flow, New York- and LA-based FreelandBuck architects designed Slipstream, a colorful installation made of CNC-cut birch-veneer plywood currently on display at New York’s Bridge Gallery through August 24. Now the sculpture could flow out of the Lower East Side gallery and into your home or apartment. Citing storage constraints, FreelandBuck has placed Slipstream on eBay and the installation—all 1,400 pieces of it—could be yours for cheap.
Download Your Guide to the Venice Biennale
With the official grand opening of the Venice Biennale set for Wednesday, August 29, following a two-day preview, it’s time to start planning your visit with the only comprehensive guide to the Who, What, and Where of the Biennale. Download your own copy to keep on hand or look for the guide to be printed in the first issue of Guida alla Biennale di Architettura, a partnership between The Architect’s Newspaper and Il Giornale Dell’Architettura.
Zaha Hadid Reveals a Pleated Vision for the Venice Biennale
Before the 2012 Venice Biennale opens on August 29, Zaha Hadid Architects has released its own preview of the firm’s pavilion to be displayed at the Giardini and the Arsenale in Venice. The pavilion will be one of 66 projects in the 13th International Architecture Exhibition at the Biennale, entitled Common Ground.
Vives les Plages! Paris Rethinks its Riverbanks by Banishing Cars
Left Bank: Port de Solférino, Musée d’Orsay (Courtesy APUR/J.C. Choblet)
The “reconquest” of the Seine’s riverside expressways will be ushered in by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, following a long battle with Nicolas Sarkozy’s recently ousted right-wing government. Continuous two-lane motorways have severed Paris from the banks of the Seine, recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, since Georges Pompidou opened them in 1967 under the slogan “Paris must adapt to the car.”
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