utopias of common life - BRAZIL’S PARTICIPATION IN THE 17TH BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA
The national representation at the Brazilian Pavilion dialogues with the overall theme of the Biennale Architettura 2021, How Will We Live Together? Curated Arquitetos Associados and Henrique Penha, the exhibition is realized by the Fundação Bienal in partnership with the Special Secretariat for Culture.
Opening to the public on May 22, 2021, the exhibition is curated by the collaborative studio Arquitetos Associados (consisting of the architects and urbanists Alexandre Brasil, André Luiz Prado, Bruno Santa Cecília, Carlos Alberto Maciel and Paula Zasnicoff) and visual designer Henrique Penha. utopias of common life begins by mapping utopias that exist on Brazilian soil, from the Guarani world vision of a Land Without Evil to contemporary times, highlighting two singular moments among them where transformative ideas either promoted or have the potential to promote significant changes in how architecture and the city can foster new alternatives for common life.
The curatorial project is motivated by the urgent need to think about utopias in the contemporary world. As Carlos Alberto Maciel explains: "The idea of utopia runs through various moments in the history of thinking about and producing Brazilian space, long before Thomas More coined the word in his celebrated book. In constructing this curatorial narrative, we seek to transpose and redefine the concept as a device for approaching the contemporary." Conceived before the Covid-19 pandemic, which has temporarily suspended the possibility of physical proximity in a large part of the world, the proposal gains new meanings in the current context: “It seems that the urgent need of rethinking forms of coexistence between humans and the planet in viable and socially inclusive ecological terms is amplified by the collective experience imposed by the pandemic, thus reinforcing the relevance of the themes the exhibition seeks to discuss,” the curators add.
utopias of common life consists of two sections shown in each of the two rooms that compose the Brazilian Pavilion. The smaller room will hold the section Futures of the Past, dedicated to two iconic designs of modern architecture and to the utopias that guided them, built between the end of the Estado Novo and the JK years (1946 to 1961). The large room will feature Futures of the Present, where two videos especially commissioned for the Biennale Architettura 2021 will be screened, which utopically reflect on the occupation of the contemporary metropolises.
The 17th International Architecture Exhibition will run 22 May to 21 November 2021, curated by architect and scholar Hashim Sarkis. “The world is putting new challenges in front of architecture - stated Sarkis. I look forward to working with participating architects from around the world to imagine together how we are going to rise to these challenges.”
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