FOODSCAPES

“By eating, we digest territories.”

At the Biennale Architettura 2023, visitors to the Pavilion of Spain will embark on a journey of exploration into the architectures that feed us—from the domestic laboratories of our kitchens to the vast operational landscapes that nourish our cities. 

After an open call, an independent jury appointed by Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda has confirmed the curatorial team and project for the exhibition. FOODSCAPES, curated by Eduardo Castillo-Vinuesa and Manuel Ocaña, will explore the Spanish agro-architectural context to address issues of planetary scope.

In its statement, the jury commented on both the originality and depth of the approach of the exhibition, noting: 

“FOODSCAPES offers a real, intelligent, and innovative discourse that promotes research and promises a learning experience in which Spanish architecture and the national territory are the protagonists. Spain occupies a strategic position as a laboratory for a more sustainable future in terms of food systems and the architectures that build them, both because of the variety of its agri-food production and because of our country’s exposure to the climate crisis. The project reveals a practical will to create an architecture capable of changing our view of the world.”

The exhibition consists of three main elements: an audiovisual project of five short films; an archive in the form of a recipe book; and a public programme of conversations, debates, events and collective research to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing between architects with transdisciplinary profiles from various Spanish universities and pavilion audiences.

Curator Eduardo Castillo-Vinuesa, commenting on the exhibition: “At a time when debates about energy are more pertinent than ever, food remains in the background, yet the way we produce, distribute and consume it mobilises our societies, shapes our metropolises and transforms our geographies more radically than any other energy source. After analysing our food systems and the architectures that build them, FOODSCAPES looks to the future to explore other possible models; ones capable of feeding the world without devouring the planet.”

Participants include: Aldayjover Architecture and Landscape (Francisco Mesonero, Iñaki Alday, Jesús Arcos, Margarita Jover), Agnes Essonti Luque, C+ Arquitectas (Manuel Alba Montes, María Buey González, Nerea Calvillo), Common Accounts (Igor Bragado, Miles Gertler), Elii [Oficina de Arquitectura] (Carlos Palacios, Eva Gil, Uriel Fogué), Gerard Ortín Castellví, Grandeza Studio (Amaia Sánchez-Velasco, Jorge Valiente Oriol), Guillermo Fernández-Abascal, Institute for Postnatural Studies (Clara Benito, Gabriel Alonso, Karol Muñozcano, Matteo Guarnaccia, Pablo Ferreira Navone, Yuri Tuma), Iván L. Munuera, Lucía Jalón Oyarzun, Lucía Tahan, Locument (Francisco Lobo, Romea Muryń), MAIO (Alfredo Lérida, Anna Puigjaner, Guillermo López, María Charneco) Manuel Bouzas, Manuel Correa, Marina Otero Verzier, María Jerez, Pablo Saiz del Río, Pedro Pegenaute, Pol Esteve Castelló, Soriano & Asociados Arquitectos (Federico Soriano, Dolores Palacios), Urbanitree (Daniel Ibañez, Vicente Guallart), Urtzi Grau, Vivian Rotie.

FOODSCAPES will be presented in the Pavilion of Spain from May 20 to November 26, 2023 in the Giardini della Biennale at the 18th International Venice Architecture Biennale, entitled The Laboratory Of The Future and curated by Lesley Lokko.

The Pavilion of Spain is organised by the Government of Spain through the Directorate General for Urban Agenda and Architecture of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), with the support of Fundación Arquia. This year’s edition is in collaboration with TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary and with the support of the European Climate Foundation.

Its public programme of conversations, debates, events and collective research will take place in Venice over the course of the Biennale with the collaboration of TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, a leading international art and advocacy foundation created in 2002 by the philanthropist and collector Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza. TBA21 is based in Madrid, where the foundation collaborates with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza. In Venice, at Ocean Space, the foundation’s research centre TBA21–Academy is hosting exhibitions, research, and public activities that accelerate critical ocean literacy and foster a deeper relationship with the Ocean and other bodies of water. Ocean Space has been investigating questions of food production and sovereignty in the Venetian lagoon collaboratively with local actors for three years and is therefore an ideal partner for the Foodscapes programme.

About the Pavilion of Spain in Venice
Spain has always played a prominent role in the history of la Biennale di Venezia. Its pavilion in the Venice Giardini was designed in 1922 by Javier De Luque and renovated in 1952 by Joaquin Vaquero Palacios. 

About the organisers
Since 1950, Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation has been directly responsible for coordinating the country’s exhibitions in the Spanish Pavilion, and, throughout this time, it has strived to promote Spain’s rich artistic heritage and talent. 

Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA), through the Directorate General for the Urban Agenda and Architecture, announced the open call, with the intervention of a jury, for the selection of the curator and exhibition design of the Spanish Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition—La Biennale di Venezia. It is also organising its production through a collaboration agreement with Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).

Acción Cultural Española (AC/E—Spain’s Public Agency for Cultural Action) has been involved in the support of contemporary creation at the Venice Biennale, both in the production of the Spanish Pavilion and in the international selection. Spain is also presenting an exhibition programme as part of the international section of the Biennale, with the support of AECID and AC/E, which this year features the work of three architecture studios: GRANDEZA Studio, Flores & Prats Architects and Office for Political Innovation.

About the Jury
The jury appointed for the selection of the curatorship and exhibition design of the Pavilion of Spain at the Biennale Architettura 2023 was chaired by Iñaqui Carnicero, Director General of Urban Agenda and Architecture (currently Secretary General of the Urban Agenda and Housing). Its members included leading figures from the world of architecture: Ignacio García Pedrosa (Professor, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid); Sara De Giles Dubois (Professor, Escuela Técnica Superior De Arquitectura, Universidad de Sevilla); Cristina Goberna Pesudo (Founder, Architectural Agonism); and Débora Mesa Molina (Principal, Ensamble Studio). The winner of the competition was announced in October 2022.

For more information about FOODSCAPES, please contact: Amanda Kelly and Vanessa Saraceno, Pickles PR.