The official opening ceremony of the Biennale and the presentation of the Golden Lions took place yesterday in the Giardini Garden on the special covered stage Esedra, which turned out to be very useful on the occasion of the sudden bad weather; rains on the opening day of the Biennale seem to become a tradition. As it should be for such an important exhibition, there was a complete sold-out; the hall was packed to capacity. Photographers, like real professionals, hung in clusters on metal structures in front of the stage and forced all the laureates to diligently pose in front of the cameras. However, the ceremony passed quickly.
Rem Koolhaas received the Golden Lion for his vital contribution to architecture - one of the most prestigious world awards for accomplished architects - for the renewal of the architectural language. Despite the fact that the name of this laureate was known in advance, the audience attending the ceremony enthusiastically reacted to his every phrase and gave him a standing ovation several times. In a short response, the architect noted that his professional activity is only the tip of the iceberg, and a much larger, "underwater" part is made up of family and friends, and he thanked them for their support, and also jokingly noted that it is very pleasant to receive this award in the middle career.
An additional - posthumous - prize, initiated by Kazuyo Sejima, was awarded to Kazuo Shinohara, a practitioner and educator who has significantly influenced modern Japanese architecture. The lion statuette assigned to him was received by a representative of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, where Shinohara studied and then taught for almost 40 years; among his students is Sejima herself.
All other laureates, as is usually done at the Biennale, were not known in advance. The best project of the main exhibition "People meet in architecture" was named "Architecture as Air: A Study for Chateau La Costa" by Junya Ishigami. It is an almost invisible structure of thin lines, outlining the contours of a hypothetical building in Europe on a 1: 1 scale. This work is devoted to the problem of dematerialization, which is quite relevant both for modern architecture and for this particular author: in 2008 Ishigami was in charge of the Japanese pavilion, which he left empty, painting only its white plastered walls with "pencil" drawings. It should also be noted that Sejima invited him to participate as an old acquaintance: in the early 2000s, he worked for her SANAA bureau for several years. The jury noted his work for "pushing the boundaries of materiality, visibility, tectonics, subtlety and even architecture itself."
The Kingdom of Bahrain received the Golden Lion for the best national pavilion, noted for its realistic approach to the choice of the theme of the exposition: instead of showing spectacular new districts and cities that are now actively being built there, the organizers settled on the plot of the rapidly changing coastal strip associated with this problems and prospects, in particular, the possibilities of using the sea as a public space. The award was presented to the pavilion commissioner - Minister of Culture of Bahrain Sheikh Mai bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, embarrassed by the attention of the press and photographers; The attention to the exhibition project of this commanding, high-born lady is understandable: Bahrain is participating in the Architecture Biennale for the first time.
The Silver Lion award for up-and-coming young architects went to Belgian architects Kersten Geers and David Van Severen (OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen) and Dutch architectural photographer Bas Princen. They took part in the current Biennale with the project “7 Rooms. 21 perspectives”. In each of the rooms of the Arsenal's deliberately dilapidated and grimy garden pavilion, one photograph of Princein, cold and almost artificial, is shown, combined with two renderings of the projects of Gers and Van Severen, also deliberately "unnatural" inscribed in real space. However, these Belgian architects are not new to the Biennale: last time they were in charge of their national pavilion, covering it with a stainless steel fence and sprinkling confetti inside as part of the After Party project.
Three honorable mentions were also awarded. Among the honored participants of the Biennale are Wang Shu and his bureau Amateur Architecture Studio for their laconic work "The Collapse of the Dome", which is a simple wooden frame; the jury liked this simplicity. Shu noted in his acceptance speech that it is very difficult to maintain creative independence in modern China, and the award will help him maintain self-confidence. Studio Mumbai is recognized for the wonderful atmospheric installation Workplace for the Arsenal, and the famous landscape architect Piet Oudolf for the design of the garden delle Vergini, which is both beautiful and modest. It took him two years to work on this object.
