About this project
Phases
Publications
Events
Audio
Participants
Phase 1 (2009-2010)
The first phase of the research initiative explores the history of architectural display at the Venice Architecture Biennale, through a series of unprecedented interviews with the directors who established its particular discourse.
These include Vittorio Gregotti, Paolo Portoghesi, Francesco Dal Co, Kurt W Forster, Massimiliano Fuksas, Hans Hollein, Richard Burdett, Deyan Sudjic, Aaron Betsky and Kazuyo Sejima, as well as the current president of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Barrata. Since its origins in the 1970s, it has become one of the most prestigious forums for architectural discourse today, and has served as a model for a range of international exhibitions. The interviews conducted for the project recover the forgotten history of that institution and explore its indebtedness to the social and political movements of the late 1960s.
Audio recordings from the interviews have been arranged by theme and made available on this website; complete transcripts are available in the publication version, published by AA Books and the Architectural Association in London in September 2010.
Phase 2 (2010-2011)
The findings that emerged from the first phase, together with a new generation's interest in questioning architecture on display, act as the catalyst for the second phase, which moves beyond the biannual spotlight on the lagoon of Venice to foreground other critical positions.
The second phase assumes a dialogic approach, one that reflects the process of refining and rethinking one's practice on an ongoing basis and in discussion with others. Slought Foundation, the Dark Side Club in Venice, the Graham Foundation in Chicago, the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York, and the Architectural Association in London collaborated in organizing four conversations over meals. Fifty practitioners, including architects and designers, theorists and historians, editors and publishers, directors and funders, and students and professors, explored the relation of architecture to display and the importance of cultivating critical and creative publics. They provide critical perspectives and methodologies that help mitigate the paucity of contemporary discourse on architectural display.
Audio recordings from the conversations have been arranged by name and made available on this website; complete transcripts are available in the publication version, published by AA Books and the Architectural Association in London in January 2012.
