THE ITALIAN PAVILLON AT VENICE BIENNALE

By Laura Ragazzola

A NEW GENERATION OF DESIGNERS GOES BEYOND THE EXHIBITION, LAUNCHING NINE PROJECTS WHICH WILL BRING LONG TERM VALUE

“Spaziale. Everyone belongs to everyone else” is the theme of the Italian Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. For the first time the topic was developed by curators - Fosbury Architecture, based in Milan - and designers all aged under 40: a new generation grown up against a backdrop of permanent crisis, aware of the environmental issues and the need to restore the role of architecture, naturally embracing collaboration and sharing. They conceived the Pavilion as an opportunity to bring value beyond the exhibition, implementing real projects for the benefit of local territories and communities.

So, nine Italian young architects or groups - (ab) Normal, BB (Alessandro Bava e Fabrizio Ballabio), Captcha Architecture, HPO, Lemonot, Orizzontale, Parasite 2.0, Post Disaster, Studio Ossidiana, Giuditta Vendrame - were selected to develop as many projects on Italian sites with situations of fragility or transformation. Each designer was paired with an advisor, drawn from other fields of creativity: visual artists, performers, experts in food systems and artificial intelligence, writers, filmmakers. Also, each design group worked and will work with a series of incubators in developing the projects.

LEFT: The young team of Fosbury Architecture (Giacomo Ardesio, Alessandro Bonizzoni, Nicola Campri, Veronica Caprino e Claudia Mainardi) is the curator of the exhibition ‘Spaziale. Everyone belongs to everyone else’ at Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale.

ABOVE AND ON THE SIDE PAGE: The 9 projects presented in the two halls of the pavilion deal with urgent issues in a variety of urban and countryside contexts in Italy. The authors are (ab)Normal, BB (Alessandro Bava and Fabrizio Ballabio), Captcha Architecture, HPO, Lemonot, Orizzontale, Parasite 2.0, Post Disaster, Studio Ossidiana, Giuditta Vendrame. All architects, like the curators, are all under 40.

Some of the 9 projects presented in the exhibition. 1. Tracce di Belmonte, in Belmonte Calabro (Calabria), by collective Orizzontale with Bruno Zamborlin; 2. ‘The Belvedere’ in the plain between Prato and Pistoia (Tuscany), by (ab)Normal and CAPTCHA with Emilio Vavarella; 3. ‘La casa tappeto’ in Librino (Sicily) by Studio Ossidiana; 4. ‘Concrete Jungle’ in Mestre (Venice) by Parasite 2.0; 5. ‘La terra delle Sirene’ in Bay of Ieranto (Naples) by BB (Alessandro Bava e Fabrizio Ballabio) with Terraforma; 6. ‘Sea Changes’ at Montiferru (Sardinia) by Lemonot; 7. Post Disaster Rooftops in Taranto (Puglia) by the collective Post Disaster with Silvia Calderoni and Ilenia Caleo.

In short, the Italian Pavilion has become a space not for showing finished projects, but for the launch of multidisciplinary initiatives that will have a long-term impact, delivering a fresh image of a new and creative Italian architecture. H