We asked several architects questions:
- how do you feel about the theme of the biennale, is it disclosed and how it influences existing views;
- which pavilions / expositions do you think are the best;
- what influenced you personally, how did the experience grow?
Studio 44: Nikita Yavein
1.
This year's topic is general, very broadly formulated - almost anything can be associated with such a topic. Hence, there are many stairs, empty pavilions - it seems to me that this is a sign of a kind of "flattening" of the world, the result of a universal desire to achieve quick success. And this tendency of simplification seems to me depressing.
2.
At the last biennials, I try to be at least one day. Aravena Biennale - I liked it very much, I often remember it, there were many close and understandable moments for me; I think that now only regional schools are interesting - the mainstream has become boring - and they were presented there, many pavilions were curious.
Compared to that exhibition, the Biennale of this year seemed to me weaker, which apparently speaks of a certain crisis. The bags in the Scandinavian pavilion resemble architectural skits, the American and Israeli pavilions are very politicized, which is boring in itself …
Perhaps, certainly an interesting architectural experience - the pavilion of Switzerland, completely agrees with the jury that awarded them the first prize. As always, the Japanese pavilion is very cute with its hand-drawn graphics.
Something interesting in the first three or four rooms in the Arsenal, I was stuck there for half a day. Then you calmly fly through everything, except that you also liked Mexico with their thin and plastic relief models.
Everyone admires Peter Zumthor's layouts, but it seemed to me that this was not the most interesting exposition … The streaks of colored wax, dyed moss, the combination of materials and techniques are curious, but I can't say that they reveal something significant, rather decorate, serve as an unusual accent.
Renzo Piano's exhibition is really interesting. The projects shown there are understandable and well-known, but the script and direction of the show are absolutely brilliant, the sensations are new, I recommend everyone to get there, this is some fresh step in exhibiting architecture, although there is much more scenography than information.
Vatican Chapels - I can't say that I made a serious impression, there are a lot of such objects in the world … Perhaps I liked the Souto de Moura chapel, there is an excellent work with stone: roughness, chiaroscuro, although because of this it looks partly like an advertisement for Portuguese sandstone - it can be seen that the stone carries a monolith, and all that jazz.
3.
Some may like something, some may not, but meanwhile the Venice Biennale remains the main exhibition in the world about architecture, so I think it makes sense to spend at least one day there. The benefit will be. ***
Sergey Kuznetsov, chief architect of Moscow
1.
Based on my experience of participating in the Biennale, I believe that the theme set by the curators is an abstract thing, and to be honest, most exhibitions follow it with a stretch. Any exhibition can be tied to a topic in one way or another, so it is rather difficult to talk about whether it has been disclosed or not. Of course, the curators' manifesto declares the general trends of world architecture today, shows that the Venice Biennale sets the tone in the world. But all the same, all national pavilions are made by their curators, as they see it. As a result, we have interesting installations, tied more to current events in the participating countries than to a general theme.
2.
I agree with the choice of the international jury and believe that Switzerland and the UK presented the best pavilions. The British presented the theme of this year (FreeSpace) literally - they left an empty space inside, but made an observation deck upstairs with a beautiful view of the Giardini gardens and the lagoon. The Swiss had an element of the game - they showed how different the dimensions of housing can be. You can also mention the Dutch pavilion, I really liked it.
There were also strong expositions at Arsenal, where everything turned out very richly. This year, many countries have touched on social issues in their works. Separately, I would highlight the expositions of Chile and
Estonia.
Posted by WEAK MONUMENT (@weak_monument) May 30, 2018 at 1:48 PDT
3.
Inviting bright and interesting curators is always the right story. Architects need to watch any biennial in its entirety in order to understand where the train is going, in which we are all traveling. So that it turns out that the train has already turned, and we are moving in a different direction. Whatever one may say, through installations, through exhibition experience, you understand what world architecture is about today, what is happening in it, what opinion leaders think, who set the bar for everyone else. This is the main task of the Biennale, in fact. Architects come here, notice certain techniques that can be done one way or another, and then use it in their work. ***
Design group "Pole-design": Vladimir Kuzmin
After some time, the general inspiration from what he saw subsided, and this, probably, will allow us to more objectively assess their impressions …
1.
Is the topic covered? Perhaps it is revealed as much as possible the disclosure of a theme that appeals to such all-encompassing characteristics as "freedom".
"Free space" is interpreted as broadly as possible: from an artistic concept to a working drawing; from literal emptiness to detailed projects of "liberation" of spaces: their functions, characteristics, materials and technologies for their formation. Many installations and expositions use theatrical, scenographic techniques to demonstrate ways of interpreting a theme, through local "performances" on a "free" theme …!
2.
Which pavilions / expositions do I consider the best?
The Swiss Pavilion is an absolute favorite! The real game with the physical scale of the living spaces and their perception was very impressed, and made you literally feel the "Alice" effect.
Dutch Pavilion - orange cells with "secrets" in and behind them.
Giant "bubbles" in the pavilion of the Scandinavian countries …
Blue podium amphitheater in the Belgian pavilion …
Virtual "windows to the Universe" in the Venice pavilion …
An illusory meadow in the mirror aquarium of the Argentina Pavilion …
Broken "Wall" in the pavilion of Germany …
Metaphysical structure on the white horizon of the installation by Dorte Mandrup at the Arsenal …
Zumthor's "toy" models …
A piece of Arsenal yard overgrown with weeds …
The "free" diagonal of the shadow in the Scarpa courtyard …
Forgotten balcony of the Russian pavilion …
3.
I will find it difficult, perhaps, to assess the degree of influence of what he saw "on existing views."
I saw more statements, statements and comprehension of the existing experience, even in obviously futuristic projects.
We can say that my experience has been replenished with many separate specific solutions - both architectural and plastic, technical, compositional and artistic, in which I am ready to admit my interest both from the point of view of the influence “personally” on me, and from the point of view of the material for the show to our students. Direct immersion in the actual world "experience" is a way of catalyzing one's own development, an objective opportunity to look at oneself, at "us" through this "Venetian" prism.
For me personally, Venice itself and the Biennale of Architecture have always been and are a "space of freedom", in this again there is experience, and the coincidence and disclosure of the topic is unconditional! ***
DNA AG: Natalia Sidorova and Daniil Lorenz
1.
The topic is so broad that there is a lot to fit into it. Therefore, the expositions at the Biennale are more interesting from the point of view of an interesting statement of the project or installation itself, rather than the correspondence or disclosure of the Free Space theme.
2.
The concept of the Swiss Pavilion - playing with scale - is simple. The quality workmanship down to the scale of parquet boards and doorknobs made the real-world experience very convincing.
I remember the Japanese pavilion with artistic graphics of various formats and techniques about urban spaces, which I just wanted to consider for a long time.
From the Vatican exposition of chapels, I liked the Carla Juacaba mirrored cross-bench. Pure artistic expression and precise technical execution. Concrete supports have evoked associations with sleepers of an endless road in endless space. The work that most fully reflected the theme of free space.
3.
A separate topic for us at the Arsenal is layouts, as full-fledged works of art. Different scales, materials, techniques. Zumthor's almost personal exhibition of models, stone carved models of the Mexican exposition, a home for the homeless in Los Angeles, an exposition of Luxembourg with huge models.
ATRIUM: Anton Nadtochy
1.
First of all, I liked that there was an attempt to talk about architecture as such, and not about global and social trends, which were mainly positioned by the previous biennials.
2.
We managed to get to the Arsenal with a guided tour - and maybe that's why we liked the Arsenal most of all, especially the part where different artistic and spatial strategies of architectural bureaus were presented, invited by curators - from Benedetta Tagliabue to Olgiati.
In Giardini, as always, the Swiss pavilion performed well - last time there was a powerful project by Christian Keretz, and this time the pavilion was no less interesting and conceptual, it was no coincidence that it won first place.
2016:
2018:
But I must say that the greater impression was made by the pavilions located outside the territory of Giardini: the pavilion of Catalonia, which was made by RCR, is an installation absolutely fantastic in its beauty.
Posted by @turatoturato 26 May 2018 at 9:13 PDT
The pavilions of the so-called "new countries" deserve more and more attention and are made very carefully, with high quality, such as Mexico, the Philippines, Luxembourg. China made a huge installation that was 3D printed and actually worked like a landscape object. It is clear that today this is an unambiguous trend that will develop very rapidly.
3.
On the whole - it seems that nothing is equal to the richness of the 2000 Biennial - when we were just blown away, everything was so cool - now there can be no more. Nevertheless, trips to the Biennale are very useful for us, you try not to get some interesting picture for yourself, and the Biennale becomes a time and space where you can think, read, and comprehend everything. The Biennale is now more about ideas and strategies. We love to go there - and every time we find something interesting for ourselves, since any strategy gives birth to its own, inherent architectural form. ***
Citizenstudio: Mikhail Beilin
1.
The first pavilion that I saw was the Swiss pavilion. He remained for me the brightest, most interesting and elegant. Most of the time I spent in the main pavilion, it was the main impression for me. It seems to me that it is even more about texts than about images. Reading all this is an incredible pleasure. I especially liked the exposition dedicated to Luigi Dominioni, about whom I had not heard before.
2.
I really liked the interpretation of the topic "Free space" by its breadth. This exhibit is significantly less socially focused in relation to the 2016 "Reporting from the Front" and less speculative. And, in my opinion, it is much more devoted to the search in architecture, and, in particular, in the past. To put it simply, “Free Space” is everything that is around us. And this biennial is about architecture in general, which, in my opinion, is quite original.
3. First, of course, this is the first experience for us of inventing and creating our own exposition at the Biennale. First of all, inventions. This process and emotions should be written separately. But after that, the expositions of the national pavilions are seen a little differently. As if from the inside. Behind all this there are people who are looking, reflecting, thinking about packaging and transportation, hoping to be in time for the opening.
Otherwise, the Biennale is always very interesting. The indescribable pleasure of immersion in architecture as a science and pure art, which is sorely lacking in everyday life. A special pleasure in the Giardini and Arsenal is reading the texts for the exhibition. Replaces a large volume of professional literature. ***
IND Architects: Amir Idiatulin
2.
In some national pavilions, the theme of the Biennale - free space - is interpreted head-on, literally as emptiness, as the British in particular did. Reflections on a given topic give rise to a pavilion with a swing (Pakistan), or a pavilion with a ping-pong table and carousels (Romania). It is controversial to consider a residential cell as a free space, as the Swiss winners did, in particular - for a modern person, the concept of housing has been transformed - and a lot of functions are programmed in the residential complex, and he spends less and less time in his apartment, he needs free spaces in the city itself.
Obviously, some of the pavilions were designed not for an audience of architects, but for the needs of the mass taste. In my opinion, such popular specific statements should not be made at such events, but we need to talk more about conceptual things, about ideas that change the life of a person and a city.
1,3.
The theme of the Biennale makes me think about the need to create free spaces in modern high-density urban development, about the search for opportunities with the tools of architecture and urban planning to form such an outlet for the townspeople. People get tired of the city, of the high building density, of urbanization that takes nature away from them. Hence the chronic fatigue syndrome and the high number of suicides in megacities. It is necessary to design more spaces for people where they can take a break from this rhythm, slow down, be alone with themselves. These should be spaces free from the crowd, from the hustle and bustle, from the pace of the city, spaces that allow you to switch off from the urban rhythm. There is an urgent problem of distributing human flows between the free spaces already existing in the city.
2.
The challenge for an architect is to create and program these spaces to be attractive to people. Maybe BIG's presentation at the Biennale is precisely on this topic - the Danes showed the Humanhattan 2050 project - a program to protect New York's embankments from floods, as a result of the reconstruction of the embankments, the city will receive new public spaces where people can disperse.
The Arsenal presented projects that were curious both in meaning and in terms of organizing the form, working with materials. For example, the Singapore bureau Woha: from the materials that seem to be ordinary at first glance, colleagues have created an airy light object that affects the main aspects of the bureau's work - and they work a lot with environmental projects. The architects drew inspiration for this project from nature itself and turned limitations into possibilities, as they themselves formulate. In the face of space shortages in Singapore (400 times smaller than Italy), architects and urban planners must invent new solutions to create inspiring spaces that diversify the daily life of the city dweller.
A capacious and modern image was formed from polymer cells by the Chinese architect Philip Yang in the installation "Cloudy Village" - the project tells about the Chinese outback, and in particular about the mixing up to the merging of the private and the public here, which plays a destructive role in the development of personality. ***
Blank Architects: Magda Chihony
1.
In my opinion, the best pavilions in terms of expressing the architectural position were the pavilions of the curators - the Irish architectural bureau GraftonArchitects, Shelley McNamara and Yvon Farrell, where they presented their unique view on the main theme of the Biennale - "Free Space".
Among the national expositions, I would like to note the pavilion of the Nordic countries: three countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway) were able to agree and present an inspiring minimalist exposition that includes moving objects in the theme of the balance of nature and architecture.
2.
At the Biennale, we saw many answers to questions about what free space is, in completely different interpretations. Some of the architects' statements turned out to be quite innovative. For example, in a pavilion in Brazil, whose participants were chosen by popular vote, architects demonstrated how completely simple solutions in an urban structure can affect the space of a city, liberate it and unleash its potential. Sometimes, just a walkway between two sites can change the urban context. And, for example, an architect from Bangladesh presented a mud hut at the Biennale, placing it on a pressed earth floor. On the one hand, the architect notes the merits of this simple material, and on the other hand, he reminds us of the part of the population whose dwellings are really made of mud.
3.
Great aesthetic pleasure was given to the pavilions of the curators of Grafton Architects: thanks to the high-quality preparation, it was pleasant to spend all three days in them. As an architect, I can highly appreciate the great work of preparing the exhibition: I managed to fill the spaces with light and air, and without overloading them, make them comfortable for guests.
