Biennale Architettura 2021 to open to the public Saturday 22 May through Sunday 21 November 2021

Open to the public from Saturday 22 May through Sunday 21 November 2021 at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and Forte Marghera the 17th International Architecture Exhibition titled How will we live together? is curated by Hashim Sarkis and organized by La Biennale di Venezia.

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION

The International Exhibition includes 112 participants in competition from 46 countries, with a growing delegation from Africa, Latin America and Asia. The Exhibition is organized into five scales, three are exhibited in the Arsenale – Among Diverse Beings, As New Households, As Emerging Communities – and two in the Central Pavilion – Across
Borders and As One Planet. A part of the Exhibition is titled How will we play together?, a contribution by 5 international participating architects who have designed a project dedicated to children’s play, on exhibit at Forte Marghera and open to the public.

This edition also includes a series of participations out of competition: Stations + Co-Habitats, research into the five scales with relative case studies developed by researchers from universities around the world; the special participation by the Israeli artist Michal Rovner in the Central Pavilion; Future Assembly ‘the exhibition within the Exhibition’ by Studio Other Spaces represented by Olafur Eliasson and Sebastian Behmann; Sport Platform, external installation in
the Giardini; the special event by the Vuslat Foundation which presents an installation by Giuseppe Penone at the Arsenale. For the fifth consecutive year, La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London present the Special Project at the Pavilion of Applied Arts (Arsenale, Sale d’Armi A) titled Three British Mosques. In collaboration with architect Shahed Saleem, the exhibition looks at the often undocumented do-it-yourself world of mosques adapted for this use.

COUNTRIES

61 national participations will bring to life the historic Pavilions in the Giardini, at the Arsenal and in the historic city centre of Venice, with 3 countries taking part in the Biennale Architettura for the first time: Grenada, Iraq, Uzbekistan.
The Italian Pavilion at the Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale, sponsored and promoted by the Ministry of Culture, General Direction for Contemporary Creativity, is curated by Alessandro Melis, which presents Resilient Communities.

COLLATERAL EVENTS

A total of 17 Collateral Events have been approved by the Curator, promoted by national and international non-profit entities and institutions. Organized in various venues in the city of Venice, they present a broad spectrum of contributions and participations that enrich the pluralism of voices that distinguishes the Exhibition.

MEETINGS ON ARCHITECTURE

The programme of the 17th Exhibition is complemented by the Meetings on Architecture, encounters with architects, scholars and professionals from around the world. The protagonists will attempt to answer the question How will we live together? in a series of dialogues focusing on the new challenges that climate change brings to architecture, on the role of public space in the recent urban uprisings, on the new techniques of reconstruction and the changing forms of collective building; on the architecture of education and the education of the architect, on the relationship between curating and architecture.

THE INTERNATIONAL JURY

The Board of Directors of La Biennale di Venezia has appointed, upon recommendation by the Curator Hashim Sarkis, the International Jury of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition which is made up of the following members: Kazuyo Sejima – president (Japan), Sandra Barclay (Perù), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland) and Luca Molinari (Italy).

The International Jury will award the following official prizes:

• Golden Lion for best National Participation
• Golden Lion for best participant in the International Exhibition How will we live together?
• Silver Lion for a promising young participant in the International Exhibition How will we live together?

The Awards Ceremony will take place in Venice on Monday, August 30th 2021.