Architecture Biennale of Venice 2010

The 12th International Architecture Exhibition, with the title of People meet in architecture, directed by Kazuyo Sejima and organized by la Biennale di Venezia under the presidency of Paolo Baratta will be open to the public from Sunday 29th August to Sunday 21st November 2010 in the Giardini, Arsenale and in various locations throughout Venice. The preview will take place on August, 26th, 27th, 28th 2010.

After a series of editions of the Architecture Biennale directed by eminent critics and historians, this Sector is once again in the hands of an architect, Kazuyo Sejima. The first woman to direct the Architecture Sector of the Biennale, Sejima has recently been awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize 2010 (together with Ryue Nishizawa).

The exhibition People meet in architecture will be laid out in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni della Biennale (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, forming a single itinerary, with 48 participants: firms, architects, engineers and artists from around the world. As usual, the Exhibition will present 53 National Participations to be held in the historical Pavilions in the Giardini, in the Arsenale and in various locations throughout the city of Venice. The title of the Padiglione Italia is AILATI. Reflections from the future. Organized by The Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities, with thePaBAAC - General Direction for the landscape, fine arts, architecture and contemporary art, it is conceived by Luca Molinari.The first-time national participations include Albania, Kingdom of Bahrain, Iran, Malaysia, Morocco, Republic of Rwanda. In addition numerous Collateral events have been proposed by international organizations and institutions, which will organize their own exhibitions and initiatives in Venice during the occasion.

“The 2010 Architecture Biennale should be a reflection on architecture - says Director Kazuyo Sejima. The twenty-first century has just started. Many radical changes are taking place. In such a rapid-changing context, can architecture clarify new values and a new lifestyle for the present? Hopefully, this show will be a chance to experience the manifold possibilities of architecture, as well as to account for its plurality of approaches, each one of them being a different way of living”.

“There will be an independent space for each participant, in order to make them show their understanding of the theme and their personal response to it - says Director Kazuyo Sejima. Individuals will be showing their position towards the interaction of new social and natural environments; all of which means that each person is his or her own curator. This way the atmosphere of the exhibition itself will be achieved through multiple points of view rather than a single orientation”.

There will be two main projects within the 12th Exhibition: “Architecture Saturdays” and “Destination Biennale di Venezia. Universities meet in architecture”.

Architecture Saturdays is the title of an initiative organized by the Biennale and consists of a series of conversations and opportunities for discussion held weekly with architects, critics and figures from the world of architecture in Italy and abroad for the entire period of the Exhibition’s opening. Thirty-five years after the first architecture exhibition to be held by the Biennale di Venezia – entitled A proposito del Mulino Stucky and organized by Vittorio Gregotti at the Magazzini del Sale on the Zattere – the cycle of “Architecture Saturdays” intends to explore the history of the exhibitions that have been held since then, inviting the directors of those editions to a meeting with the public. Each Saturday there will be a meeting, moderated not only by the current director, Kazuyo Sejima, but also by each director of the preceding editions of the Exhibition: Vittorio Gregotti (1975, 1976, 1978), Paolo Portoghesi (1980, 1982, 1992), Francesco Dal Co (1988, 1991), Hans Hollein (1996), Massimiliano Fuksas (2000), Deyan Sudjic (2002), Kurt W. Forster (2004), Richard Burdett (2006), Aaron Betsky (2008).

With “Destination Biennale di Venezia. Universities meet in architecture”, the Biennale turns to universities and educational institutes, offering a visit to the Exhibition planned and organized by the institutions and representing a significant didactic and training experience. The project foresees the possibility of setting up specific agreements with the Universities for accrediting groups of at least 50 students, accompanied by lecturers, to transform the visit into university credits. The participating faculties are responsible for organizing the visit programme, which can last up to three days and may include a two-hour seminar organized independently by the faculty itself within a space offered free of charge by the Biennale. Participants in the programme can also take part in one of the “Architecture Saturdays” if their visit takes place at the end of the week. We have already got in touch with 30 Italian Universities, and 80 different architecture, engineering, design and communication faculties, and received favourable responses from 15 of them, 9 of which are ready to sign this convention. We have also proposed this initiative to more than 300 Universities and Advanced Training Institutes in different European, American, Asian and African countries, getting back 25 positive responses until today, and the first confirmations are to be formalized in the next few days.

“A new Biennale is born – says Paolo Baratta – an exhibition that hosts foreign pavilions as participants, and different universities as visitors. It’s a new alliance under the name of architecture and its related disciplines, as well as a renewed impulse to see the Architecture Biennale as an International pilgrimage spot for teachers and students alike”.

Even in 2010, Educational Activities destined to any school group (regardless of their level and kind), professionals, companies, experts, art lovers and families alike have been scheduled. Such initiatives, guided by selected operators trained by the Biennale di Venezia, aim at actively involving participants, and are divided into Guided Visits and Lab Activities.

At the same time as the opening of the 12th Exhibition, the Biennale is announcing some major structural improvements: by the end of August, the restoration of Ca’ Giustinian (the Biennale’s headquarters) will be terminated, with the restoration of the Sala delle Colonne (550 square meters). Dating from the 1930s, this room is unique in terms of spatial and architectural features, and will be used as a flexible space for conferences, meetings, workshops and exhibitions, and especially for live performances. The end of August will also see the completion of the second and final project for the refurbished wing of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini. This will provide a home for the remaining part of the library of the Historic Archive of the Contemporary Arts (ASAC), covering Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Music, Theatre and the periodicals division.

The inaugural and award ceremony of the 12th Exhibition will take place on Saturday, August 28th in the Giardini, with the awarding of the official awards assigned by the International Jury. The International Jury will be awarding the following prizes: Golden Lion for the best National Participation at the 12th Exhibition, Golden Lion for the best architect/artist of the Exhibition People meet in architecture, Silver Lion for most promising young architect of the Exhibition People meet in architecture.

Three online competitions will be launched during the 12th Exhibition throughout the website www.labiennalechannel.org: - People meet in architecture – Photography: the best photograph of the Exhibition (open exclusively to accredited photographers); - People meet in architecture – Essay: the best critical text on the Exhibition; - People meet in architecture – Videoclip: the best video on the theme of the Exhibition.

For the direction of the Exhibition, Kazuyo Sejima employs the artistic consultancy of Yuko Hasegawa and Ryue Nishizawa. Further support is given by Sam Chermayeff, Jack Hogan and Ikeda Satoshi.

The catalogue of the 12th Exhibition is published by Marsilio.

Participants All the architects selected for the 12th Exhibition

AIRES MATEUS E ASSOCIADOS FRANCISCO AIRES MATEUS Portugal, 1964 lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal MANUEL AIRES MATEUS Portugal, 1963 lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal

AMATEUR ARCHITECTURE STUDIO WANG SHU China, 1963 lives and works in Hangzhou, China

AMID.CERO9 CRISTINA DÍAZ MORENO Spain, 1971 lives and works in Madrid, Spain EFRÉN GARCÍA GRINDA Spain, 1966 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

ARANDA\LASCH WITH ISLAND PLANNING CORPORATION BENJAMIN ARANDA United States, 1973 lives and works in New York, US CHRIS LASCH United States, 1972 lives and works in New York, US NATHAN BROWNING United States, 1973 lives and works in Miami, US

ARU/ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH UNIT FLORIAN BEIGEL Germany, 1941 lives and works in London, UK PHILIP CHRISTOU Canada, 1956 lives and works in London, UK ARU is a design research laboratory based at the London Metropolitan University

ATELIER BOW-WOW YOSHIHARU TSUKAMOTO Japan, 1965 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan MOMOYO KAIJIMA Japan, 1969 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

BERGER&BERGER LAURENT P. BERGER France, 1972 lives and works in Paris, France CYRILLE BERGER France, 1975 lives and works in Paris, France

LINA BO BARDI Rome, Italy, 1914 – São Paulo, Brazil, 1992

STUDIO ANDREA BRANZI ANDREA BRANZI Italy, 1938 lives and works in Milan, Italy

JANET CARDIFF JANET CARDIFF Canada, 1957 lives and works in Grindrod, BC Canada and Berlin, Germany

CARUSO ST. JOHN + THOMAS DEMAND ADAM CARUSO Canada, 1962 lives and works in London, UK PETER ST JOHN Great Britain, 1959 lives and works in London, UK ROD HEYES Great Britain, 1973 lives and works in London, UK THOMAS DEMAND Germany, 1964 lives and works in Berlin, Germany and London, UK

ALDO CIBIC ALDO CIBIC Italy, 1955 lives and works in Milan, Italy

DEPAOR ARCHITECTS TOM dePAOR Great Britain, 1967 lives and works in Dublin, Ireland

ARCHITECTEN DE VYLDER VINCK TAILLIEU JAN DE VYLDER Belgium, 1968 lives and works in Ghent, Belgium

DO-HO SUH + SUH ARCHITECTS (EULHO SUH AND KYUNGEN KIM) DO-HO SUH Korea, 1962 lives and works in New York, US and Berlin, Germany EULHO SUH Korea, 1964 lives and works in Seoul, Korea and Los Angeles, US KYUNGEN KIM Korea, 1972 lives and works in Seoul, Korea and Los Angeles, US

PETER EBNER AND FRIENDS PETER EBNER Austria, 1968 lives and works in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany MICHAEL EICHNER Germany, 1968 lives and works in Munich, Germany and Moscow, Russia MICHAEL SCHWARZ Germany, 1958 lives and works in Dubai, United Arab Emirates JAVIER SANCHEZ Mexico, 1969 lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico FRANZISKA ULLMANN Austria, 1950 lives and works in Vienna, Austria CLAUDIO VALENTINO Great Britain, 1967 lives and works in Rome, Italy GIANLUCA ANDREOLETTI Italy, 1965 lives and works in Rome, Italy

OLAFUR ELIASSON Denmark, 1967 lives and works in Berlin, Germany

SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS SOU FUJIMOTO Japan, 1971 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

ANTÓN GARCÍA-ABRIL & ENSAMBLE STUDIO ANTÓN GARCÍA-ABRIL Spain, 1969 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

JUNYA.ISHIGAMI+ASSOCIATES JUNYA ISHIGAMI Japan, 1974 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

TOYO ITO & ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS TOYO ITO Korea, 1941 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

ANDRÉS JAQUE ARQUITECTOS ANDRÉS JAQUE Spain, 1971 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

CHRISTIAN KEREZ Venezuela, 1962 lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland

LUISA LAMBRI Italy, 1969 lives and works in Milan, Italy

WALTER NIEDERMAYR Italy, 1952 lives and works in Bolzano, Italy

NOERO WOLFF ARCHITECTS JO NOERO South Africa, 1951 lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa HEINRICH WOLFF South Africa, 1970 lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa HANS ULRICH OBRIST Switzerland, 1968 lives and works in London, UK http://huoarchive.hfg-karlsruhe.de

OFFICE KERSTEN GEERS DAVID VAN SEVEREN + BAS PRINCEN KERSTEN GEERS Belgium, 1975 lives and works in Brussels, Belgium DAVID VAN SEVEREN Belgium, 1978 lives and works in Brussels, Belgium BAS PRINCEN Netherlands, 1975 lives and works in Rotterdam, Netherlands

VALERIO OLGIATI Switzerland, 1958 lives and works in Flims, Switzerland

OMA - OFFICE FOR METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE REM KOOLHAAS Netherlands, 1944 lives and works in Rotterdam, Netherlands

OpenSimSim DANIEL DENDRA Netherlands, 1966 lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Moscow, Russia

PIET OUDOLF The Netherlands, 1944 lives and works in Hummelo, Netherlands

PEZO VON ELLRICHSHAUSEN ARCHITECTS MAURICIO PEZO Chile, 1973 lives and works in Concepcion, Chile SOFIA VON ELLRICSHAUSEN Argentina, 1976 lives and works in Concepcion, Chile

RENZO PIANO BUILDING WORKSHOP RENZO PIANO Italy, 1937 Lives and works in Genoa, Italy and Paris, France

MARK PIMLOTT + TONY FRETTON ARCHITECTS MARK PIMLOTT Canada, 1958 lives and works in London, UK and in The Hague, Netherlands TONY FRETTON Great Britain, 1945 lives and works in London, UK

CEDRIC PRICE Stone, Staffordshire, 1934 – London, UK, 2003

SMILJAN RADIC + MARCELA CORREA SMILJAN RADIC Chile, 1965 lives and works in Santiago, Chile MARCELA CORREA Chile, 1963 lives and works in Santiago, Chile

RAUMLABORBERLIN FRANCESCO APUZZO, MARKUS BADER, BENJAMIN FOERSTER-BALDENIUS, ANDREA HOFMANN, JAN LIESEGANG, CHRISTOF MAYER, MATTHIAS RICK, AXEL TIMM founded in 1999 based in Berlin, Germany

R&SIE(N) FRANÇOIS ROCHE France, 1961 lives and works in Paris, France teaches in New-York & Los Angeles, USA STÉPHANIE LAVAUX France, 1966 lives and works in Paris, France TOSHIKATSI KIUCHI Japan, 1978 lives and works in Paris, France

TOM SACHS STUDIO TOM SACHS United States, 1966 lives and works in New York, US

SELGASCANO JOSÉ SELGAS Spain, 1965 lives and works in Madrid, Spain LUCÌA CANO Spain, 1965 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

STUDIO MUMBAI ARCHITECTS founded in 2005 based in Mumbai, India

FIONA TAN Indonesia, 1966 lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands

KAZUYO SEJIMA & ASSOCIATES KAZUYO SEJIMA Japan, 1956 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan participants from the curatorial team not eligible for awards

OFFICE OF RYUE NISHIZAWA RYUE NISHIZAWA Japan, 1966 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan participants from the curatorial team not eligible for awards

TRANSSOLAR & TETSUO KONDO ARCHITECTS MATTHIAS SCHULER Germany, 1958 lives and works in Stuttgart, Germany TETSUO KONDO Japan, 1975 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

WIM WENDERS Germany, 1945 lives and works in Los Angeles, US and Berlin, Germany participant related to the curatorial team not eligible for awards

CERITH WYN EVANS Wales, 1958 lives and works in London, UK

AIRES MATEUS E ASSOCIADOS FRANCISCO AIRES MATEUS Portugal, 1964 lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal MANUEL AIRES MATEUS Portugal, 1963 lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal

AMATEUR ARCHITECTURE STUDIO WANG SHU China, 1963 lives and works in Hangzhou, China

AMID.CERO9 CRISTINA DÍAZ MORENO Spain, 1971 lives and works in Madrid, Spain EFRÉN GARCÍA GRINDA Spain, 1966 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

ARANDA\LASCH WITH ISLAND PLANNING CORPORATION BENJAMIN ARANDA United States, 1973 lives and works in New York, US CHRIS LASCH United States, 1972 lives and works in New York, US NATHAN BROWNING United States, 1973 lives and works in Miami, US

ARU/ARCHITECTURE RESEARCH UNIT FLORIAN BEIGEL Germany, 1941 lives and works in London, UK PHILIP CHRISTOU Canada, 1956 lives and works in London, UK ARU is a design research laboratory based at the London Metropolitan University

ATELIER BOW-WOW YOSHIHARU TSUKAMOTO Japan, 1965 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan MOMOYO KAIJIMA Japan, 1969 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

BERGER&BERGER LAURENT P. BERGER France, 1972 lives and works in Paris, France CYRILLE BERGER France, 1975 lives and works in Paris, France

LINA BO BARDI Rome, Italy, 1914 – São Paulo, Brazil, 1992

STUDIO ANDREA BRANZI ANDREA BRANZI Italy, 1938 lives and works in Milan, Italy

JANET CARDIFF JANET CARDIFF Canada, 1957 lives and works in Grindrod, BC Canada and Berlin, Germany

CARUSO ST. JOHN + THOMAS DEMAND ADAM CARUSO Canada, 1962 lives and works in London, UK PETER ST JOHN Great Britain, 1959 lives and works in London, UK ROD HEYES Great Britain, 1973 lives and works in London, UK THOMAS DEMAND Germany, 1964 lives and works in Berlin, Germany and London, UK

ALDO CIBIC ALDO CIBIC Italy, 1955 lives and works in Milan, Italy

DEPAOR ARCHITECTS TOM dePAOR Great Britain, 1967 lives and works in Dublin, Ireland

ARCHITECTEN DE VYLDER VINCK TAILLIEU JAN DE VYLDER Belgium, 1968 lives and works in Ghent, Belgium

DO-HO SUH + SUH ARCHITECTS (EULHO SUH AND KYUNGEN KIM) DO-HO SUH Korea, 1962 lives and works in New York, US and Berlin, Germany EULHO SUH Korea, 1964 lives and works in Seoul, Korea and Los Angeles, US KYUNGEN KIM Korea, 1972 lives and works in Seoul, Korea and Los Angeles, US

PETER EBNER AND FRIENDS PETER EBNER Austria, 1968 lives and works in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany MICHAEL EICHNER Germany, 1968 lives and works in Munich, Germany and Moscow, Russia MICHAEL SCHWARZ Germany, 1958 lives and works in Dubai, United Arab Emirates JAVIER SANCHEZ Mexico, 1969 lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico FRANZISKA ULLMANN Austria, 1950 lives and works in Vienna, Austria CLAUDIO VALENTINO Great Britain, 1967 lives and works in Rome, Italy GIANLUCA ANDREOLETTI Italy, 1965 lives and works in Rome, Italy

OLAFUR ELIASSON Denmark, 1967 lives and works in Berlin, Germany

SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS SOU FUJIMOTO Japan, 1971 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

ANTÓN GARCÍA-ABRIL & ENSAMBLE STUDIO ANTÓN GARCÍA-ABRIL Spain, 1969 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

JUNYA.ISHIGAMI+ASSOCIATES JUNYA ISHIGAMI Japan, 1974 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

TOYO ITO & ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS TOYO ITO Korea, 1941 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

ANDRÉS JAQUE ARQUITECTOS ANDRÉS JAQUE Spain, 1971 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

CHRISTIAN KEREZ Venezuela, 1962 lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland

LUISA LAMBRI Italy, 1969 lives and works in Milan, Italy

WALTER NIEDERMAYR Italy, 1952 lives and works in Bolzano, Italy

NOERO WOLFF ARCHITECTS JO NOERO South Africa, 1951 lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa HEINRICH WOLFF South Africa, 1970 lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa

HANS ULRICH OBRIST Switzerland, 1968 lives and works in London, UK http://huoarchive.hfg-karlsruhe.de

OFFICE KERSTEN GEERS DAVID VAN SEVEREN + BAS PRINCEN KERSTEN GEERS Belgium, 1975 lives and works in Brussels, Belgium DAVID VAN SEVEREN Belgium, 1978 lives and works in Brussels, Belgium BAS PRINCEN Netherlands, 1975 lives and works in Rotterdam, Netherlands

VALERIO OLGIATI Switzerland, 1958 lives and works in Flims, Switzerland

OMA - OFFICE FOR METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE REM KOOLHAAS Netherlands, 1944 lives and works in Rotterdam, Netherlands

OpenSimSim DANIEL DENDRA Netherlands, 1966 lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Moscow, Russia

PIET OUDOLF The Netherlands, 1944 lives and works in Hummelo, Netherlands

PEZO VON ELLRICHSHAUSEN ARCHITECTS MAURICIO PEZO Chile, 1973 lives and works in Concepcion, Chile SOFIA VON ELLRICSHAUSEN Argentina, 1976 lives and works in Concepcion, Chile

RENZO PIANO BUILDING WORKSHOP RENZO PIANO Italy, 1937 Lives and works in Genoa, Italy and Paris, France

MARK PIMLOTT + TONY FRETTON ARCHITECTS MARK PIMLOTT Canada, 1958 lives and works in London, UK and in The Hague, Netherlands TONY FRETTON Great Britain, 1945 lives and works in London, UK

CEDRIC PRICE Stone, Staffordshire, 1934 – London, UK, 2003

SMILJAN RADIC + MARCELA CORREA SMILJAN RADIC Chile, 1965 lives and works in Santiago, Chile MARCELA CORREA Chile, 1963 lives and works in Santiago, Chile

RAUMLABORBERLIN FRANCESCO APUZZO, MARKUS BADER, BENJAMIN FOERSTER-BALDENIUS, ANDREA HOFMANN, JAN LIESEGANG, CHRISTOF MAYER, MATTHIAS RICK, AXEL TIMM founded in 1999 based in Berlin, Germany

R&SIE(N) FRANÇOIS ROCHE France, 1961 lives and works in Paris, France teaches in New-York & Los Angeles, USA STÉPHANIE LAVAUX France, 1966 lives and works in Paris, France TOSHIKATSI KIUCHI Japan, 1978 lives and works in Paris, France

TOM SACHS STUDIO TOM SACHS United States, 1966 lives and works in New York, US

SELGASCANO JOSÉ SELGAS Spain, 1965 lives and works in Madrid, Spain LUCÌA CANO Spain, 1965 lives and works in Madrid, Spain

STUDIO MUMBAI ARCHITECTS founded in 2005 based in Mumbai, India

FIONA TAN Indonesia, 1966 lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands

KAZUYO SEJIMA & ASSOCIATES KAZUYO SEJIMA Japan, 1956 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan participants from the curatorial team not eligible for awards

OFFICE OF RYUE NISHIZAWA RYUE NISHIZAWA Japan, 1966 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan participants from the curatorial team not eligible for awards

TRANSSOLAR & TETSUO KONDO ARCHITECTS MATTHIAS SCHULER Germany, 1958 lives and works in Stuttgart, Germany TETSUO KONDO Japan, 1975 lives and works in Tokyo, Japan

WIM WENDERS Germany, 1945 lives and works in Los Angeles, US and Berlin, Germany participant related to the curatorial team not eligible for awards

CERITH WYN EVANS Wales, 1958 lives and works in London, UK