Open to the public from Saturday 22 May through Sunday 21 November 2021 at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and Forte Marghera the 17th International Architecture Exhibition titled How will we live together? is curated by Hashim Sarkis and organized by La Biennale di Venezia. The preview will be held on 20 and 21 May, the inauguration ceremony will take place on Saturday 22 May 2021.

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION

The International Exhibition includes 112 participants in competition from 46 countries, with a growing delegation from Africa, Latin America and Asia and with comparable representation of men and women. The Exhibition is organized into five scales, three are exhibited in the Arsenale and two in the Central Pavilion: Among Diverse Beings, As New Households, As Emerging Communities, Across Borders, As One Planet.

A part of the Exhibition is titled How will we play together?, a contribution by 5 international participating architects who have designed a project dedicated to children’s play, on exhibit at Forte Marghera and open to the public.

THE COLLABORATION WITH BIENNALE DANZA

This year the 17th International Architecture Exhibition will intersect with the 15th International Festival of Contemporary Dance from 23 July to 1 August, hosting at the Arsenale, in the section of the Exhibition titled Among Diverse Beings, the installations and dancers-choreographers of the Biennale College. Under the mentorship of the artistic director of Biennale Danza Wayne McGregor, they will create short choreographic fragments, “snapshots” or “sketches” inspired by the signs, materials and themes of the Architecture Exhibition.

COUNTRIES

63 national participations will bring to life the historic Pavilions in the Giardini, at the Arsenale and in the historic city centre of Venice, with 4 countries taking part in the Biennale Architettura for the first time: Grenada, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan Republic.

The Italian Pavilion at the Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale, sponsored and promoted by the Ministry of Culture, General Direction for Contemporary Creativity, is curated by Alessandro Melis.

Photo of the Arsenale by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy La Biennale di Venezia.

COLLATERAL EVENTS

A total of 17 Collateral Events have been approved by the Curator, promoted by national and international non-profit entities and institutions. Organized in various venues in the city of Venice, they present a broad spectrum of contributions and participations that enrich the pluralism of voices that distinguishes the Exhibition.

MEETINGS ON ARCHITECTURE

The programme of the 17th Exhibition is complemented by the Meetings on Architecture, encounters with architects, scholars and professionals from around the world. The protagonists will attempt to answer the question How will we live together? in a series of dialogues focusing on the new challenges that climate change brings to architecture, on the role of public space in the recent urban uprisings, on the new techniques of reconstruction and the changing forms of collective building; on the architecture of education and the education of the architect, on the relationship between curating and architecture. The calendar of events will be announced soon on the website http://www.labiennale.org.

“Once again this year – stated the President of La Biennale Roberto Cicutto – the preparation of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition took place in a climate of uncertainty which the curator Hashim Sarkis and the invited professionals, as well as the representatives of the national participations, addressed with great determination, courage and sense of responsibility. We open the Giardini and the Arsenale with an even greater awareness of just how much La Biennale’s work mirrors the contemporary world, which is here interpreted and sometimes foreshadowed by the proposals put forward by the curators and those who participate with their own work.

Paolo Baratta, whom I wish to thank for having accepted to accompany this edition after having entrusted it to the curator Hashim Sarkis, says in his presentation: We have confirmed that one of the aims of an International Exhibition was also that of increasing a desire for Architecture.

BIENNALE SESSIONS, the project for the Universities

La Biennale again this year dedicates the Biennale Sessions project to Universities, Academies and Institutes of Higher Education. The goal is to facilitate three-day self-organized visits for groups of at least 50 students and teachers, who will be assisted in organizing their journey and their stay, and will be offered the possibility of organizing seminars to be held free of charge in the venues of the exhibition.

Photo by Andrea Avezzu, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.