Launch of the 17th Venice Biennale of Architecture – news.ORF.at

The seventeenth edition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture begins tomorrow, entitled “How do we live together?” The case had to be postponed last year due to the pandemic. A total of more than 60 country pavilions will be on display through November 21. The copy was supervised by the Lebanese architect Hashem Sarkis.

The Austrian pavilion project “Platform Austria” by coordinators Helge Mooshammer and Peter Mörtenböck is based on contributions from 50 bloggers who have thought about urbanization on the platform.

The wing as a platform

For Mooshammer, the pavilion itself serves as a platform – both for bloggers’ contributions, now already submitted in advance, as well as for audience discussions. From late summer – CoV condition permitting – there will also be discussion events in the pavilion patio. According to the scientist, the biennial itself is an opportunity to craft messages.

So, with the slogans prominently placed (from “Arrival is the new capital” to “The podium is my friend”), conscious signs are being placed. “Our stand is definitely an ambassador. The messages at the center and the slogans raise questions. It’s not a solo show, but it is a gathering of 50 voices from around the world.”

German insights for 2038

The German Pavilion takes you to the year 2038, which can only be accessed via QR codes. They are everywhere: on the floor, on the walls. Point your mobile phone camera at it and you will be taken to various videos on the 2038.xyz website, created by an international team of architects, artists, ecologists, economists and writers to tell the story of the future.

Even in the Canadian pavilion near you you get lost without a smartphone. The entire building was wrapped in a bright green cloth. Via the QR code, you can access a specially developed theme on Instagram, through which you suddenly see Canadian buildings that have served as backgrounds for action movies in recent years. With one click, you take a photo that you can then share on the social platform. According to the curators, the “plagiarism” is a “playful critique of the cultural self-presentation.”

But less theoretical contributions can also be found in the rural wings of Giardini: South Korea engages with the “School of Tomorrow” in many contributions and combines comfortable and sustainable furniture with distance learning on the screen.