LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA

13th Mostra Internazionale di Architettura

AIRES MATEUS Radix \| Installation in the exteriors of the Arsenale		ÁLVARO SIZA Percorso \| Installation in the Giardino delle Vergini
In the exteriors of the Arsenale is located the installation designed by portuguese office Aires Mateus, an elegant contemporary response to the architectural setting of the Biennale.The installation recognises the nearby docks of the Arsenale designed by Jacopo Sansovino between 1568 and 1573, which is flanked by arched walkways that inspire this structure. Radix is an arch supported on three points with the fourth corner hanging over the water, turning the otherwise massive steel structure into a lightweight balanced volume.		Alvaro Siza, winner of the 13th Venice Biennale Lifetime Achievement, created this structure in the gardens of the Arsenale, right next to another structure by Eduardo Soto de Moura that we will feature on a separate article. This follows the longtime collaboration of the two Portuguese masters.Alvaro Siza’s structure establishes a relationship with a different aspect of Venice – that of the dense urban environment. Three faceted walls generate two intimate spaces in the middle of the garden designed for the 12th Biennale in 2012 by Piet Oudolf, a tribute to the compact urban tissue of Venice, which frames particular views of the exteriors of the Arsenale.
EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA Windows \| Installation in the Giardino delle Vergini		MÁRCIO KOGAN The Brazilian Pavilion
Souto de Moura’s structure overlooks the old buildings in front of the Arsenale from the waterfront, on the path leading to Alvaro Siza. This structure is an exploration of material, building systems and language. The facades frame views of these old buildings, reinterpreting the existing landscape, according to the will of the viewer. According to Souto de Moura “geography becomes how we want it to be. This it the great leap of the modern movement, and as a result of postmodernism”.		Marcio Kogan’s peephole installation in Brazil’s national pavillion is among the Venice Architecture Biennale’s highlights, in which visitors ltook through a variety of peepholes in either side of a long black wall. Through each peephole are little video mini-dramas set in the elegant, luxurious V4 house in São Paulo designed by Marcio Kogan.