Main sections of the 10th International Architecture Exhibition
The 10th International Architecture Exhibition will take place from 10
September to 19 November 2006, directed by Richard Burdett. Dedicated to
Cities, architecture and society, this edition focuses on the key
factors facing large scale metropolitan areas around the world: from
migration to mobility, from social integration to sustainable growth.
A novelty of the 10th International Architecture Exhibition is the
addition of two collateral sections, the Cities of Stone project in
Venice, and City-Port in Palermo which complement and expand the theme
of the international exhibition by exploring specific urban themes and
conditions in southern Italy.
50 Countries have accepted the Venice Biennale's invitation to take part
in the 10th International Architecture Exhibition. The City, in its
many-sided aspects, is a key subject that each Country can deal with
under a specific and original perspective.
=================================================================
http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/exhibition/en/62180.html
=================================================================
10th International Architecture Exhibition... Cities, architecture and
society...
Cities, architecture and society - curated by Richard Burdett
“More than half of the world’s population lives in cities”, states the
Director of the 10th International Architecture Exhibition, Richard
Burdett. “A century ago, it was less than 10%. The 21st century will be
the first truly urban era, in which more than 75% of the world’s
population will live in urban areas, much of it in mega-cities with more
than 20 million inhabitants concentrated in the countries undergoing
rapid development in Asia, Africa and South America. In the meantime,
many Western and European cities are shrinking, or have been forced to
re-invent themselves in order to adapt to a post-industrial condition.
The aim is both to inform and provoke a debate on the way we shape the
future of urban society, just at the point that cities represent such a
critical mass of the global agenda. It is an attempt to re-engage the
physical structure of cities – their buildings, spaces and streets which
is the domain of architects and urban designers – with the social,
cultural and economic dimensions of urban existence. Despite, the
informed perceptions of urban thinkers – from Jane Jacobs to Aldo Rossi,
from Saskia Sassen to Rem Koolhaas – the architectural profession has
perhaps been overly insulated from this interdisciplinary debate. By
bringing the everyday life of cities from around the world to Venice,
and by inviting research institutions to share their visions for urban
intervention, the 10th International Architecture Exhibition Cities,
architecture and society is designed to make a cultural contribution to
one of the most pressing social questions facing mankind in the 21st
century.”
Using photography, film and mixed-media presentations, Cities,
architecture and society has been designed by Aldo Cibic and Luigi
Marchetti - Cibic&Partners to recreate the urban experiences of 16 world
cities in four different continents within the 300-metre long Corderie
dell’Arsenale. These include: Barcelona, Spain (population: 4,424,000);
Berlin, Germany (population: 3,328,000); Bogotá, Colombia (population:
7,594,000); Cairo, Egypt (population: 11,146,000); Caracas, Venezuela
(population: 3,276,000); Istanbul, Turkey (population: 9,760,000);
Johannesburg , South Africa (population: 3,288,000); London, Great
Britain (population: 7,615,000); Los Angeles United States (population:
12,146,000); Mexico City, Mexico (population: 19,013,000); Milan-Torino,
Italy (population: 4,007,000 and 1,182,000); Mumbai, India (population:
18,336,000); New York, United States (population: 18,498,000); São
Paulo, Brazil (population: 18,333,000); Shanghai, China (population:
12,665,000); and Tokyo, Japan (population: 35,327,000).
The exhibition will not only feature information and data on how these
cities are being transformed in social, economic and cultural terms but
also display new architectural and urban projects that are affecting the
way people live, work and move in the dense metropolitan environment of
these world cities.
The Padiglione Italia will be transformed into a window on the
state-of-the-art of urban research in cities. Twelve influential
research and teaching institutions from Italy, Mexico, India, Germany,
Great Britain, Holland, Switzerland, UK and the USA will display design
work and ideas on cities, reflecting the current re-engagement of the
architectural profession with social and economic processes. The Berlage
Institute form Rotterdam will describe different ways of reading and
intervening in different urban conditions. Rem Koolhaas and the Office
for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA/AMO) will present recent research on
Lagos and Dubai. The ETH Basel Contemporary City Studio will show an
analytical portrait of Switzerland and its emerging urban geographies.
The MIT Senseable Cities Laboratory will show original digital mapping
on Real Time Rome, tracking mobile phone and movement patterns. The
University of Texas at Austin is exploring the social and political
impacts of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and other cities affected by
the natural disaster. The Universidad Iberoamericana, the Urban Design
Research Institute and the Istituto Universitario Architettura Venezia
(IUAV) will analyse the relationship between urban design and global
change in Mexico City, Mumbai and Venice and its regional hinterland.
The Royal College of Art in London will develop concepts of the emerging
‘ecstacity’ as a reflection on contemporary urban life. The Schrumpfende
Städte - Shrinking Cities project will describe the effect of
de-industrialisation on the quality of life in European and American
cities. The central space of the Padiglione Italia will be dedicated to
an exhibition of city photographs curated by C-Photo Magazine, providing
a historic panorama of how cities have captured the imagination of
photographers and artists around the globe for over a century.
Under the overarching theme of Cities, architecture and society, there
are a number of significant collateral events and initiatives that
provide a truly global perspective on cities in addition to the main
exhibition on sixteen world cities within the Corderie. These collateral
sections, under the banner of the Italian government’s Sensi
Contemporanei project, include Claudio d’Amato Guerrieri’s exhibition,
Cities of Stone, to be held at the Artiglierie dell’Arsenale in Venice,
and Rinio Bruttomesso’s exhibition, City-Port, which will take place in
Palermo.
50 countries have already confirmed their participation in the 10th
International Architecture Exhibition, providing a unique overview on
how architects, planners and designers are responding different urban
complexities around the world. The national pavilions will feature a
range of urban and architectural projects responding to the pressures of
contemporary life: migration, urban sprawl, de-industrialisation and
social change. The examples presented include the case of extreme
suburbanisation in Ireland, exponential urban growth in Asia, racial
exclusion in post-apartheid South Africa, the effect of new architecture
in the urban regeneration of towns and cities of northern England. and a
new vision of the city in Italy.
Over twenty architecture schools from Italy and abroad will be invited
to engage with the core theme of the Cities, Architecture and Society
exhibition, and their work will be displayed in the Padiglione Italia
from 8-19 November 2006. The Learning from cities project will be
co-ordinated by Francesco Garofalo.
During the three months that the exhibition is open, a series of
conferences, co-ordinated by Guido Martinotti, will explore the central
themes of urban governance, mobility and the quality of urban life.
With its diverse insights, initiatives and perspectives, the Padiglione
Italia and individual displays within the national pavilions will
complement the detailed narratives of 16 world cities and, in tandem
with the Cities of Stone exhibition in the Arsenale, will provide the
visitor to this Architecture Biennale with a rich and diverse experience
of urban life. The 10th Architecture Exhibition will conclude with a
manifesto for the cities of the 21st century dedicated to the potential
contribution that architecture and urban design can make to a more
sustainable, democratic and fair world.
Cities, architecture and society will be accompanied by a monograph
published by Marsilio, covering the themes and contents of the
international exhibition at the Corderie dell’Arsenale, with essays by
Richard Burdett and Saskia Sassen as well as interviews with architects
and social critics on the interactions between architecture and the
city. It will also include profiles of the selected cities with
comparative data on social and economic change, and insights into the
key aspects of city life as well as summaries of the work presented by
international research institutions featured in the Padiglione Italia. A
second volume documents the exhibitions in the national pavilions,
collateral events, conferences and special projects.
Richard Burdett (London, 1956) who was brought up in Rome, is an
architect and urbanist based in London. He is Centennial Professor in
Architecture and Urbanism at the London School of Economics and
architectural adviser to the Mayor of London. His expertise lies in
understanding the links between architecture, urban design and urban
society. Burdett has played a key role in institutions that have shaped
the culture of architecture in the UK – the 9H Gallery, the Architecture
Foundation, the LSE Cities Programme, the Mayor’s Architecture and
Urbanism Unit and the UK government’s Urban Task Force. He is an adviser
to public and private organisations including the Tate, the BBC and NM
Rothschild, and sits on the Mayor of Barcelona’s Quality Committee. He
has been a jury member of many international design competitions
including the MAXXI in Rome, the Tate Modern in London, the Forum 2004
in Barcelona and a new residential district in Beijing. He runs a series
of annual meeting attended by European Mayors and is responsible for the
‘Urban Age’ series of international conferences held in global cities
including New York, Shanghai, London, Berlin, Mexico City and
Johannesburg. Burdett has curated over 40 exhibitions on contemporary
architecture and urban design, is a regular commentator on architecture
and cities in the international press and media.