ARCHITECTURE
Established in 1980, the Venice Architecture Biennale is at once among the most prestigious architecture exhibitions in the world and yet something of an afterthought compared to its more pedigreed sibling, the Venice Art Biennale. This is partly reflected in the fact that the architecture exhibition has for much of its life not been a biennial at all, instead alternating between intervals as short as one year and as long as five during its first two decades.
Yet, as the architectural avant-garde seeks new ways to navigate the increasingly complex terrain between science, aesthetics and agency – and the one-time incubator of the avant-garde, the international expo, has inclined ever further towards techno-promotional spectacle – the exhibition as medium for idea-driven experimentation, communication and experience has the potential to be of more importance than ever before in determining the shape of the humane environment.
Coinciding with this year’s 12th Venice Architecture Biennale, ART iT devotes its September 2010 issue to an assessment of the role that exhibitions play in current architectural practice.
Interviews: Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, Junya Ishigami and Sou Fujimoto
Archival presentation: Rem Koolhaas / OMA*AMO in Venice, 2005-2010
Texts: Judy Annear, Naohiko Hino, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Oscar Tuazon.
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