Searching for Meaning Amid the Jumble, at the Venice Architecture Biennale
Passing into a much cooler space, a concave wall of white bricks rises sharply. Dates on the side mark the exponential growth of the world population since 3,000 B.C., with an uptick starting in 1804 that is expected to peak soon, and then fall.
The two installations go to the heart of the issues that inform the 19th Architecture Biennale, which runs through Nov. 23: climate and population. Titled 'Intelligens: Natural, Artificial and Collective,' the show explores 'how architecture can be at the center of adaptation, adapting to a changing planet,' its curator, Carlo Ratti, said during a walk-through last week.
He paused to read out one of the introductory wall panels: 'The future of architecture lies not in control of nature, but in partnership with it,' he said.
He continued reading: 'In this new era we must ask: Can we design a building as smart as a tree?'
The answer isn't always overtly apparent in the 300 projects from about 750 international contributors — far more than previous exhibitions — packed into the Arsenale, a historic Venice shipyard. Some are invited submissions, but the majority were selected after an open call, officially called a 'space for ideas,' a first in the history of the Biennale, which opened the door to younger, fresher voices 'on the other side of the world' that might normally not have been heard, Ratti said.
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