Curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale have announced more details about the 2018 show, themed Freespace. This year, 71 studios and 65 countries, seven of which are participating for the first time, including the Vatican, will show their work in two separate exhibitions, from May 26 through November 25, 2018.
In the show’s manifesto by Farrell and McNamara, Freespace is described as, “[…] examples of generosity and thoughtfulness in architecture throughout the world that will be celebrated in the 16th International Architecture Exhibition. We believe these qualities sustain the fundamental capacity of architecture to nurture and support meaningful contact between people and place. We focus our attention on these qualities because we consider that intrinsic to them are optimism and continuity.”
As such, Freespace entrants will be given leeway to present works that can range from open civic spaces to material studies, as long as they laud the natural world and “nature’s free gifts.” Freespace is accepting proposals, examples, and pieces of projects, both built and unbuilt, that evoke a hidden beauty through the use of materiality, form, complexity, or place.
Paolo Baratta, President of La Biennale di Venezia, praised this year’s theme and the participants’ commitment to improving society through design. “The absence of architecture makes the world poorer and diminishes the level of public welfare, otherwise reached by economic and demographic developments. To rediscover architecture means to renew a strong desire for the quality of the spaces where we live, which are a form of public wealth that needs to be constantly protected, renovated and created?”
Below are all 71 architects:
- 6a architects(London, UK)
Tom Emerson; Stephanie Macdonald; John Ross; Owen Watson - Alison Brooks Architects(London, UK)
Alison Brooks - Álvaro Siza 2 – Arquitecto, SA(Porto, Portugal)
Álvaro Siza Vieira - Amateur Architecture Studio(Hangzhou, China)
Wang Shu; Lu Wenyu - andramatin(Jakarta, Indonesia)
Andra Matin - Angela Deuber Architect(Chur, Switzerland)
Angela Deuber - architecten de vylder vinck taillieu(Ghent, Belgium)
Jan de Vylder; Inge Vinck; Jo Taillieu - Arrea architecture(Ljubljana, Slovenia)
Maruša Zorec - Assemble(London, UK)
Jane Issler Hall; Mathew Leung; Alice Edgerley; Adam Willis; Fran Edgerley; Amica Dall; Giles Smith; James Binning; Paloma Strelitz; Lewis Jones; Joseph Halligan; Louis Schulz; Maria Lisogorskaya; Karim Khelil; Anthony Engi Meacock - Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner(Haldenstein, Switzerland)
Peter Zumthor - Aurelio Galfetti(Lugano and Bellinzona, Switzerland)
- Barclay & Crousse(Lima, Peru)
Sandra Barclay; Jean-Pierre Crousse - BC architects & studies(Brussels, Belgium)
Ken De Cooman; Nicolas Coeckelberghs; Wes Degreef; Laurens Bekemans - Benedetta Tagliabue – Miralles Tagliabue EMBT(Barcelona, Spain; Shangai, China)
Benedetta Tagliabue; Elena Nedelcu; Joan Callís - BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group(New York, USA; Copenhagen, Denmark; London, UK)
Bjarke Ingels; Sheela Maini Søgaard; Finn Nørkjær; Thomas Christoffersen; Kai-Uwe Bergmann; Andreas Klok Pedersen; David Zahle; Jakob Lange; Beat Schenk; Daniel Sundlin; Brian Yang; Jakob Sand - Burkhalter Sumi Architekten (Zürich, Switzerland)
Marianne Burkhalter; Christian Sumi
with
Marco Pogacnik (Venice, Italy) - Carla Juaçaba(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Caruso St John Architects(London, UK)
Adam Caruso; Peter St John - Case Design(Mumbai, India)
Anne Geenen; Samuel Barclay - Cino Zucchi Architetti(Milan, Italy)
Cino Zucchi - Crimson Architectural Historians(Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Ewout Dorman; Michelle Provoost; Cassandra Wilkins; Wouter Vanstiphout; Simone Rots; Annuska Pronkhorst - David Chipperfield Architects(London, UK; Berlin, Germany; Milan, Italy; Shanghai, China)
David Chipperfield; Alexander Schwarz; Martin Reichert; Christoph Felger; Eva Schad; Harald Müller - de Blacam and Meagher Architects(Dublin, Ireland; Ibiza, Spain)
Shane de Blacam; John Meagher - Diller Scofidio + Renfro(New York, USA)
Elizabeth Diller; Charles Renfro; Ricardo Scofidio; Benjamin Gilmartin - DnA_Design and Architecture(Beijing, China)
Xu Tiantian - Dorte Mandrup A/S(Copenhagen, Denmark)
Dorte Mandrup; Frants Nielsen - Elemental(Santiago, Chile)
Alejandro Aravena; Gonzalo Arteaga; Juan Cerda; Diego Torres; Victor Oddo - Elizabeth Hatz Architects(Stockholm, Sweden)
Elizabeth Hatz - Estudio Carme Pinós(Barcelona, Spain)
Carme Pinós - Flores & Prats(Barcelona, Spain)
Eva Prats; Ricardo Flores - Francesca Torzo Architetto(Genova, Italy)
Francesca Torzo - Gion A. Caminada(Vrin-Cons, Switzerland)
- GrupoSP(São Paulo, Brazil)
Alvaro Puntoni; Joao Sodre - Gumuchdjian Architects(London, UK)
Philip Gumuchdjian - Hall McKnight(Belfast and London, UK)
Alastair Hall; Ian McKnight - Inês Lobo, Arquitectos(Lisbon, Portugal)
Inês Lobo; João Rosário - Jensen og Skodvin Arkitekter AS(Oslo, Norway)
Jan Olav Jensen; Børre Skodvin; Torunn Golberg; Torstein Koch - John Wardle Architects(Melbourne, Australia)
John Wardle, Stefan Mee, Meaghan Dwyer, Bill Krotiris, Jane Williams - Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA(Tokyo, Japan)
Kazuyo Sejima; Ryue Nishizawa - Kieran Long; Johan Örn; James Taylor-Foster (Stockholm, Sweden)
with
ArkDes (Stockholm, Sweden) - Lacaton & Vassal Architects(Paris, France)
Anne Lacaton; Jean Philippe Vassal - Laura Peretti Architects(Rome, Italy)
Laura Peretti - Maria Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo(Vittoria – Ragusa, Italy)
- Marie-José Van Hee architecten(Ghent, Belgium)
Marie-José Van Hee - Marina Tabassum Architects(Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Marina Tabassum - Matharoo Associates(Ahmedabad, India)
Gurjit Singh Matharoo - Michael Maltzan Architecture(Los Angeles, USA)
Michael Maltzan - Niall McLaughlin Architects(London, UK)
Niall McLaughlin - O’Donnell + Tuomey(Dublin, Ireland)
John Tuomey; Sheila O’Donnell - Paredes Pedrosa Arquitectos(Madrid, Spain)
Angela Garcia de Paredes; Ignacio G. Pedrosa - Paulo Mendes da Rocha(São Paulo, Brazil)
- Peter Rich Architects(Johannesburg, South Africa)
Peter Rich - Rafael Moneo, Arquitecto(Madrid, Spain)
Rafael Moneo - Rintala Eggertsson Architects(Oslo and Bodø, Norway)
Dagur Eggertsson; Vibeke Jensen; Sami Rintala - RMA Architects(Mumbai, India; Boston, USA)
Rahul Mehrotra; Nondita Correa Mehrotra; Robert Stephens; Payal Patel - Robert McCarter, Professor of Architecture(St. Louis, Missouri, USA)
Robert McCarter - Room11 Architects(Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)
Thomas Bailey; Nathan Crump; Megan Baynes - Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura(Mexico City, Mexico)
Rozana Montiel - Salter Collingridge Design(London and Ludlow, UK)
Peter Salter; Fenella Collingridge - Sauerbruch Hutton(Berlin, Germany)
Matthias Sauerbruch; Louisa Hutton; Juan Lucas Young - Skälsö Arkitekter(Visby and Stockholm, Sweden)
Joel Phersson; Erik Gardell; Lisa Ekström; Mats Håkansson; Axel Wolgers - Souto Moura – Arquitectos, S.A.(Porto, Portugal)
Eduardo Souto de Moura - Studio Anna Heringer(Laufen, Germany)
Anna Heringer - Studio Gang(Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, USA)
Jeanne Gang - Studio Odile DECQ(Paris, France)
Odile Decq - Talli Architecture and Design(Helsinki, Finland)
Pia Ilonen; Minna Lukander; Martti Lukander - Tezuka Architects(Tokyo, Japan)
Takaharu Tezuka; Yui Tezuka - Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects(Tokyo, Japan)
Toyo Ito - Vector Architects(Beijing, China)
Gong Dong - VTN Architects(Hochiminh City, Vietnam)
Vo Trong Nghia - Weiss/Manfredi(New York, USA)
Marion Weiss; Micheal Manfredi
This year’s biennale will also see pavilions from the aforementioned 65 countries go up in the Giardini, the Arsenale, and the Venice city center. It also marks the first time that Antigua & Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Guatemala, Lebanon, Mongolia, Pakistan, and the Holy See will be exhibiting pavilions. The national participants have chosen to tackle the theme in a variety of ways. While some countries have opted to highlight environmental justice, others will prompt discussions on a “lack of free space” or seek to explore the term.
A full list of the 65 national entrants and their pavilion’s theme can be found here. The United States will front a hefty and diverse group of seven design teams for this year’s show to realize Dimensions of Citizenship.