BIENNALE DI VENEZIA - THE 17TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION POSTPONED TO 2021

Consequently, the 59th International Art Exhibition, curated by Cecilia Alemani, which was to take place in 2021, has in turn been postponed to 2022. It will last 7 months and will be held from Saturday, April 23 to Sunday, November 27.

The decision to postpone the Venice Architecture Biennale to May 2021 is an acknowledgment that it is impossible to move forward—within the set time limits—in the realization of such a complex and worldwide exhibition, due to the persistence of a series of objective difficulties caused by the effects by the health emergency underway.

The current situation, up to now, has definitely prejudiced the realization of the Exhibition in its entirety, jeopardizing the realization, transport, and presence of the works and consequently the quality of the Exhibition itself. Therefore, after consulting with the Curator Hashim Sarkis and in consideration of the problems the invited architects, participating countries, institutions, Collateral Events are facing, and thanking all of them for their efforts so far, La Biennale has decided to postpone the opening date of the Venice Architecture Biennale to the year 2021, extending its duration back to the customary six months, from May 22 to November 21.

“The last few days,” declared Biennale President Roberto Cicutto, “have clarified the real state of the situation we are all facing. With the utmost respect for the work done by all of us, the investments made by the participants, and considering the difficulties that all countries, institutions, universities, architectural studios have met together with the uncertainty of the shipments, personal travel restraints, and Covid-19 protective measures that are being and were being adopted, we have decided to listen to those, the majority, who requested that the Venice Architecture Biennale be postponed. I have received many messages asking for a postponement to 2021”

“I am deeply moved by the perseverance of all the participants during the last three months,” stated Curator Hashim Sarkis. “I hope that the new opening date will allow them first to catch their breath, and then to complete their work with the time and vigor it truly deserves. We did not plan it this way. Neither the question I asked How will we live together? nor the wealth of ways in response to it, were meant to address the crisis they are living, but here we are.”

READ MORE: HASHIM SARKIS: THE NEW DIRECTOR OF VENICE BIENNIAL'S ARCHITECTURE SECTOR 

“We need a new spatial contract – said Hashim Sarkis. In the context of widening political divides and growing economic inequalities, we call on architects to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together. The architects invited to participate in the Biennale Architettura are encouraged to include other professions and constituencies—artists, builders, and craftspeople, but also politicians, journalists, social scientists, and everyday citizens. In effect, the Biennale Architettura 2020 asserts the vital role of the architect as both cordial convener and custodian of the spatial contract.

In parallel, the 17th Exhibition also maintains that it is in its material, spatial, and cultural specificity that architecture inspires the ways we live together. In that respect, we ask the participants to highlight those aspects of the main theme that are uniquely architectural.

The question, “How will we live together?” is as much a social and political question as a spatial one. Aristotle asked it when he was defining politics, and he came back to propose the model of the city. Every generation asks it and answers it differently. More recently rapidly changing social norms, growing political polarization, climate change, and vast global inequalities are making us ask this question more urgently and at different scales than before. In parallel, the weakness of the political models being proposed today compels us to put space first and, perhaps like Aristotle, look at the way architecture shapes inhabitation for potential models for how we could live together.”

The theme of the Biennale Architettura 2020 is its title. The title is a question, and it is open:

How: Speaks to practical approaches and concrete solutions, highlighting the primacy of problem solving in architectural thinking.

Will: Signals looking toward the future, but also seeking vision and determination, drawing from the power of the architectural imaginary.

We: Stands for first person, plural, and thus inclusive (of other peoples, of other species), appealing to a more empathetic understanding of architecture.

Live: Means not simply to exist but to thrive, to flourish, to inhabit, and to express life, tapping into architecture’s inherent optimism.

Together: Implies collectives, commons, universal values, highlighting architecture as a collective form and a form of expression.

?: Indicates an open question, not a rhetorical one, looking for (many) answers, celebrating the plurality of values in and through architecture.