Kazuyo Sejima, Director of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di...

The 2010 Venice architecture biennale, directed by Kazuyo Sejima of Japanese architect practice SANAA, will take place under the motto of 'People meet in Architecture.' It will be open to the public from Sunday 29th August to Sunday 21st November 2010 in the Giardini, Arsenale and in various locations throughout Venice. The preview will take place on August, 26th, 27th, 28th 2010.
The exhibition "People meet in architecture" will be laid out in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni della Biennale (Giardini) and in the Arsenale, forming a single itinerary, with 46 participants: firms, architects, engineers and artists from around the world. The first-time national participations include Albania, Kingdom of Bahrain, Iran, Malaysia, Republic of Rwanda, and Thailand.

Architecture Saturdays

"Architecture Saturdays" is the title of an initiative organized by the Biennale and consists of a series of conversations and opportunities for discussion held weekly with architects, critics and figures from the world of architecture in Italy and abroad for the entire period of the Exhibition's opening. The cycle of "Architecture Saturdays" intends to explore the history of the exhibitions that have been held since then, inviting the directors of those editions to a meeting with the public. Each Saturday there will be a meeting, moderated not only by the current director, Kazuyo Sejima, but also by each director of the preceding editions of the Exhibition: Vittorio Gregotti (1975, 1976, 1978), Paolo Portoghesi (1980, 1982, 1992), Francesco Dal Co (1988, 1991), Hans Hollein (1996), Massimiliano Fuksas (2000), Deyan Sudjic (2002), Kurt W. Forster (2004), Richard Burdett (2006), Aaron Betsky (2008).

Universities meet in Architecture

With "Destination Biennale di Venezia. Universities meet in architecture", the Biennale turns to universities and educational institutes, offering a visit to the Exhibition planned and organized by the institutions and representing a significant didactic and training experience. The project foresees the possibility of setting up specific agreements with the Universities for accrediting groups of at least 50 students, accompanied by lecturers, to transform the visit into university credits. The participating faculties are responsible for organizing the visit programme, which can last up to three days and may include a two-hour seminar organized independently by the faculty itself within a space offered free of charge by the Biennale. Participants in the programme can also take part in one of the "Architecture Saturdays" if their visit takes place at the end of the week.
At the same time as the opening of the 12th Exhibition, the Biennale is announcing some major structural improvements: by the end of August, the restoration of Ca' Giustinian (the Biennale's headquarters) will be terminated, with the restoration of the Sala delle Colonne (550 square meters). Dating from the 1930s, this room is unique in terms of spatial and architectural features, and will be used as a flexible space for conferences, meetings, workshops and exhibitions, and especially for live performances. The end of August will also see the completion of the second and final project for the refurbished wing of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in the Giardini. This will provide a home for the remaining part of the library of the Historic Archive of the Contemporary Arts (ASAC), covering Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Music, Theatre and the periodicals division.

For more information, refer to Biennale site: www.labiennale.org

Published 04.08.2010