“How do we live together?” So ask this year’s La Biennale di Venezia. The 17th edition of the Architecture Fair, which has been postponed in 2020, is now taking place in Venice, and after the pandemic, this question – amazingly insightful – is taking on new meaning.
As of November 22, 112 participants from 46 countries have explored the topic with very diverse results. Sure, she lives with fellow human beings, but what about cohabitation with animals, birds, and the earth? From an edible algae you can grow in your home to a device that encourages short, spontaneous naps, to a dual-purpose sculpture that’s also a home for birds, here are 15 of our favorite finds.
1. “Bit.Bio.Bot: A Collegiate Experience in Biotechnology Engineering”
A healthy, sustainably sourced snack that you can grow in your own home is one way to start your journey through the Biennale. In “Bit.Bio.Bot: A Collegiate Experiment in Biotechnology Architecture,” an installation by EcoLogicStudio is shown reminiscent of a crazy lab, freshly harvested algae. Shown here, housed in laboratory-grade borosilicate glass and a 3D-printed PLA bioplastic, Spirulina platensis within a gel-like medium and floating in a liquid.
2. “Differences in a Bird Cage”
Reflective Birdhouse is a functional sculpture that spans several feet in Variations on a Bird Cage by Studio Ossidiana. The exhibition explores the coexistence of humans and birds, presenting the many transformative ways in which the two species can live together.
3. Germany Pavilion
It’s been a digital year, and Germany aims to keep it that way — at least in its Venice pavilion. This year’s German Pavilion consists of blank walls painted white and stamped with some barcodes. What will the world look like in 17 years? It leads to digital content including a series of short films, “2038: The New Serenity”, initiated by Arno Brandelhuber, Olaf Grauert, Nicholas Hirsch, and Christopher Roth, and is looking into the near future.
4. “Three British Mosques.”
London’s architecture, at times, transcended religious and social divisions, and a particular building served as a church, synagogue, and mosque. This example – as well as an earlier pub – is among the three modified mosques in the capital that are the hub of “Three British Mosques”. The installations by author and architect Shahid Selim, carpeted like a mosque, have been presented by La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
5. “A Catalog of Posthumans” Parsons and Charlesworth
An imaginative shopping experience selling near-future products at the mixed media exhibition “The Catalog of Posthumans” Parsons and Charlesworth. One such tool, Sleep Snacker, encourages short, spontaneous naps.
6. “Ego to Eco” by Effekt Architects
A small forest of 1,200 live tree seedlings has blossomed in the “Ego to Eco” installation by Effekt Architects and curated by Hashem Sarkis. After six months of growth, the seedlings will be planted in urban areas of Denmark as part of a carbon offset programme.
7. “Museo Aero Solar For an Aerocene Era”
Anyone with plastic trash and internet access can reach new heights in a solar-powered balloon with a project by Tomás Saraceno. Presented by his non-profit organization, the Aerocene Foundation, Museo Aero Solar For an Aerocene Era presents a sustainable flying figurine made from discarded plastic bags and then strung together. The project began in 2007, and includes online help.
8. USA Pavilion
In the nineteenth century in the United States, timber-framed construction met the requirements of population expansion westward. A built addition to the existing American Pavilion, “American Framing,” examines this building system and reflects its permeable architecture. cCurated by Paul Pressner and Paul AndersenThe project was organized by the University of Illinois Chicago.
9. UK Pavilion
The pandemic has emphasized the importance of access to outdoor spaces, but what about privately owned public spaces? In the UK Pavilion, The Garden of Private Delights explores this intertwined issue through an eccentric garden that is a reference to a 15th-century oil painting, Garden of earthly delights Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch. The pavilion is sponsored by Manijeh Verghese and Madeleine Kessler and presented by the British Council.
10. “Shelter for Rise”
Humans, animals, birds, and fungi appear on the guest list at “Shelter for Rebirth,” a dinner party organized by Superflux focused on a “more than human” future, according to the video. An oak table and tree-trunk benches set the stage for the installation, which also includes reclaimed waste like discarded plastic, a circuit board, and salvaged metal.
11. Nordic Pavilion
Architectural firm Helen and Hard built a whole range of condominium spaces from their latest Vindmøllebakken co-living project in Stavanger. Driven by three zones – private, semi-private and public – the concept derives from a model developed in the Nordic countries in the 1970s which combines self-ownership and stand-alone condominiums with shared functions and community living.
12. Spain Pavilion
The idea of burial in leaves takes on new meaning with the “uncertainty”, made of thousands of leaves, in the Spanish Pavilion. Actually a “cloud” of clipboards, the installation emphasizes the challenging process the architect faces in realizing the work.
13. “Artificial Intelligence Games Shapes and Ladders”
The maternity suit woven from silk organza is featured in “Artificial Intelligence Games Shapes and Ladders: Battles of Bias and Bureaucracy”, an exploration of systemic racism and sexism in the workplace by Annie Liu. The installation also includes a video game “designed to reflect inequality in real life,” according to the artist.
14. “Silk Road Works”
Dolls dressed as construction workers are arranged in symbolic poses in the installation “Works of the Silk Road” by artist and architectural historian Azra Akchamega. Uniforms are not made of traditional materials: safety jackets of silk, overalls of Venetian cloth, hard jackets of Murano glass.
15. Bahrain Pavilion
How does the city preserve its heritage but adapt to changing times? The historical art of pearling is the focus of a UNESCO World Heritage Site preserving three oyster ponds in Muharraq, Bahrain. It was shown in “The Pearl, A Testament to the Economy of the Island”, at the Bahrain Pavilion, curated by Noura Al-Sayeh and Ghassan Al-Shamali.