The desire for architecture: the Biennale di Venezia ready to go

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When the Biennale di Venezia calls, we #designlovers answer and we come along. In this article I have summarized for you the main events of the exhibition. Not only architecture and design, in Venice there will also be space for cinema, dance, music and theater!

 

 

The Biennale di Venezia, the most important and historical cultural event that investigates architecture, cinema, dance, music and theater, will start on Saturday May 26th 2018. The events start from the Architecture Biennale that gives the kickstart to all the exhibitions in the wonderful Serenissima.
Open to the public until Sunday November 25th 2018, the XVI International Architecture Exhibition, called FREESPACE, is curated by the Irish studio Grafton Architects, by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. Did you know that the duo is already known as well as for the numerous projects in Dublin, also for having designed the extension of the Bocconi University in Milan? A project that I really really appreciated.

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara from Grafton Architects, curators of FREESPACE
The extension of the Bocconi University in Milan. A project by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara

This year the main theme of the Biennale addresses the concept of generosity and “desire for architecture” so dear to President Paolo Baratta.
The sense of humanity of architecture is coming back to highlight the interpretations and innovative responses of emerging and established professionals on how to create free space through projects inspired by generosity.

Paolo Baratta, President of the Biennale di Venezia

Nothing utopian, real architecture

as the architect Mario Cucinella said

 

 

 

63 nations participate in the exhibition and among these will be present for the first time Antigua & Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Lebanon, Pakistan and the Vatican (with its own pavilion on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore).

Vatican Pavilion for the Biennale di Venezia 2018
The Island of San Giorgio Maggiore

The Italian Pavilion, this year called Arcipelago Italia and curated by the architect Mario Cucinella, puts into action in the Arsenale area “a listening policy, in order to understand where are broken the things that for centuries allowed us to interpret the desires of the territories and transform them into architecture “.

Arsenale in Venice - Photo by Andrea Antoni (@Stailuan on Instagram)
The Arsenale in Venice is an ancient complex of shipyards and shops

The protagonists of Arcipelago Italia will be five Italian territorial projects immersed in a journey of knowledge between the present and the past that leads to the investigation of possible future scenarios.

 

 

The “Experimental Projects” chosen in the past months are the Piana di Ottana (Sardinia), the Valle del Belice (Sicily), Matera and the railway stations of Ferrandina and Grassano (Basilicata), Camerino and the area of ​​Central Italy hit by the 2016 earthquake (Marche) and the Parco delle Foreste Casentinesi (Emilia Romagna).

Sketch of Arcipelago Italia, the Italian pavilion curated by Mario Cucinella for the Biennale di Venezia 2018

As I anticipated, the Biennale is not just architecture: even fans of theater, cinema, dance and music will be satisfied in the coming months.

 

 

It will be necessary to wait until July for the start of the Theater Biennale, during which it will be given the Leone d’Oro for the career to the performers Antonio Rezza and Flavia Mastrella, among the most original and interesting personalities of the theater scene, not only Italian.

 

 

At the end of August, the spotlight will be on the International Film Festival, which aims to promote the knowledge and diffusion of International Cinema in all its forms. During the event, the Leone d’Oro for the career will be awarded to the director David Cronenberg. Ready for the parade of stars on the canals of Venice?
In September it will be the turn of the Music, with the award of the Leone d’Oro for the career to the pianist and composer Keith Jarrett and the Leone d’Argento to the Franco-Argentine composer Sebastian Riva.

Venice by night

Prepare the agenda, will be months full of events and cultural initiatives that will have as background the ever beautiful Venice. The exhibitions will involve the most significant places in the city. Convince your friends and colleagues who have never been to Venice, it is really difficult to find excuses not to see the Serenissima at least once in life.
Do not forget the official hashtags of the Architecture Exhibition: #BiennaleArchitettura2018 e #Freespace. Click here for the official calendar of all the Biennale events.

As always, the Exhibition will give us examples, teachings and provoked discussion. Will you also visit the Architecture Biennale in the coming days? Or will you wait for the beginning of the other events? Is there a pavilion you do not want to miss? Let me know in the comments if there is an event or exhibition that you would like to tell to me.

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