The Venice Architecture Biennale has released details and participants for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition which will explore the theme "How will we live together?" starting from May 23rd to November 29th, 2020 at Arsenale and Giardini venues in Venice, Italy. 

The pre-opening of the exhibition will take place on 21st and 22nd May, the awards ceremony and inauguration will be held on Saturday 23rd May 2020.

In a live streaming conference on February 27, the curator Hashim Sarkis shared the details of the Venice Biennale and also presented the theme in detail. 

"The Venice Architecture Biennale 2020 is motivated by new kinds of problems that the world is putting in front of architecture, but it is also inspired by the emerging activism of young architects and the radical revisions being proposed by the profession of architecture to take on these challenges," said Hashim Sarkis in a live streaming press conference from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Hashim Sarkis. Image © Jacopo Salvi, courtesy of Venice Architecture Biennale

In his curatorial statement, Sarkis said: "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 2020 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."

Arsenale. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of Venice Architecture Biennale

"There has been a constant theme over the years," said Paolo Baratta – the social advantages which Architecture can catalyze. 

"As we have often said, Architecture makes us more aware individuals; it helps us become citizens, not just consumers; it stimulates us to consider the indirect effects of our actions; it helps us understand more fully the importance of public goods and of free goods. It helps us develop a more all-around vision of welfare." […] Architecture helps us to conserve resources and to give ourselves a modicum of happiness," added Baratta. 

Leong Leong, "View from Santa Monica Boulevard with Administrative Offices to the left and Youth Housing to the right," Anita May Rosenstein Campus, 2019. Image © Iwan Baan. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

The International Exhibition

The Exhibition will be articulated between the Central Pavilion at the Giardini, the Arsenale, and Forte Marghera, including 114 participants in competition coming from 46 countries with increased representation from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. 

In addition to the invited participants, the Biennale Architettura 2020 also includes Stations+Cohabitats, researchers out of competition on the themes of the Exhibition and developed by universities around the world. 

The exhibition will be organised in five scales between the Arsenale and the Central Pavilion at the Giardini, the Exhibition also presents large installations connected to one of the five scales, which will be placed in the external spaces of the Arsenale and the Giardini. “How will we play together?” is the project devoted to children’s play at Forte Marghera, presented by five architects and an architectural photographer.

raumlabor, "imaginary of a multiple use in haus der statistik - a collective civic reinvention of a disused gdr government building in central berlin" 2015-20. Courtesy raumlabor. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

The Venice Biennale and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London for the fifth consecutive year present British Mosques, the Applied Arts Pavilion Special Project (Arsenale, Sale d’Armi). Collaborating with author and architect Shahed Saleem, the pavilion looks at the self-built and often undocumented world of adapted mosques. 

Three case studies will examine the Brick Lane mosque, a former Protestant chapel then Synagogue; Old Kent Road mosque housed in a former pub; and Harrow Central mosque, a purpose-built space that sits next door to the converted terraced house it used to occupy. Realized by La Biennale di Venezia.

63 National Participations will be showcased in the historic Pavilions at the Giardini, at the Arsenale and in the historic city centre of Venice. Three are participating for the first time at the Biennale Architettura: Grenada, Iraq and Uzbekistan.

The full statements of Hashim Sarkis and Paolo Baratta can be read from the Venice Biennale's website. See the participants below:

Among Diverse Beings (Arsenale)

• 1. Allan Wexler Studio (New York, USA) Allan Wexler
• 2. Ani Liu (New York, USA)
• 3. Azra Aksamija (Cambridge, USA)
• 4. FABER FUTURES (London, UK) Natsai Audrey Chieza
• 5. Lucy McRae (Los Angeles, USA)
• 6. MAEID [Büro für Architektur und transmediale Kunst] (Vienna, Austria) Daniela Mitterberger; Tiziano Derme
• 7. Modem (Oakland, USA) Nicholas de Monchaux; Kathryn Moll
• 8. Parsons & Charlesworth (Chicago, USA) Tim Parsons; Jessica Charlesworth
• 9. Peju Alatise (Lagos, Nigeria)
• 10. Philip Beesley Architect and Living Architecture Systems Group (Toronto, Canada) Philip Beesley
• 11. Refik Anadol Studio (Los Angeles, USA) Refik Anadol
• 12. Studio Libertiny (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Tomas Libertiny
• 13. Studio Ossidiana (Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Milan, Italy) Giovanni Bellotti; Alessandra Covini
• 14. The Living (New York, USA) David Benjamin

Rural Urban Framework, "Video collage by day - dug-out house on the bottom, Chinese landscape on the top," Split Lives: Stories from the Underground House, 2020. Courtesy Rural Urban Framework. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

As New Households (Arsenale)

• 15. Achim Menges / ICD University of Stuttgart and Jan Knippers / ITKE University of Stuttgart (Stuttgart, Germany) Achim Menges; Jan Knippers
• 16. Aires Mateus (Lisbon, Portugal) Francisco Aires Mateus; Manuel Aires Mateus
• 17. AL_A (London, UK) Amanda Levete; Ho-Yin Ng; Alice Dietsch; Maximiliano Arrocet
• 18. Alison Brooks Architects (London, UK) Alison Brooks
• 19. Atelier RITA (Paris, France) Valentine Guichardaz-Versini
• 20. BAAG Buenos Aires Arquitectura Grupal (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Griselda Balian; Gastón Noriega; Gabriel Monteleone
• 21. ecoLogicStudio (London, UK) Claudia Pasquero; Marco Poletto
• 22. Farshid Moussavi Architecture (London, UK) Farshid Moussavi
• 23. Fernanda Canales (Mexico City, Mexico)
• 24. gad · line+ studio (Hangzhou, China) Fanhao Meng
• 25. Gramazio Kohler Architects / NCCR DFAB (Zürich, Switzerland) Fabio Gramazio; Matthias Kohler
• 26. K63.STUDIO (Nairobi, Kenya; Vancouver, Canada) Osborne Macharia
• 27. leonmarcial arquitectos (Lima, Peru) Alexia Leon; Lucho Marcial
• 28. Leopold Banchini Architects (Geneva, Switzerland) Leopold Banchini
• 29. LIN Architects Urbanists (Berlin, Germany; Paris, France) Finn Geipel
• 30. Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture (Paris, France) Lina Ghotmeh
• 31. Miralles Tagliabue EMBT (Barcelona, Spain) Benedetta Tagliabue; Elena Nedelcu; Joan Callís
• 32. nicolas laisné architectes (Montreuil, France) Nicolas Laisné
• 33. OPAFORM architects (Bergen, Norway) Marina Bauer; Espen Folgerø
• 34. Open Systems Lab (London, UK) Alastair Parvin
• 35. ROJO / FERNÁNDEZ-SHAW, arquitectos (Madrid, Spain) Begoña Fernadez-Shaw; Luis Rojo
• 36. Sahel Alhiyari Architects (Amman, Jordan) Sahel Alhiyari
• 37. SsD (Seoul, Korea; New York, USA) Jinhee Park
• 38. THE OPEN WORKSHOP (San Francisco, USA; Toronto, Canada) Neeraj Bhatia; Antje Steinmuller

Tumertekin Emerging Communities. Image courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

As Emerging Communities (Arsenale)

• 39. antonas office (Athens, Greece; Berlin, Germany) Aristide Antonas
• 40. Arquitectura Expandida (Bogotá, Colombia) Ana López Ortego; Harold Guyaux; Felipe González González; Viviana Parada Camargo
• 41. atelier masōmī (Niamey, Niger) Mariam Kamara
• 42. Bouroullec Brothers (Paris, France) Erwan Bouroullec; Ronan Bouroullec
• 43. Cohabitation Strategies (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Lucia Babina; Emiliano Gandolfi; Gabriela Rendon; Miguel Robles Duran
• 44. doxiadis+ (Athens, Greece) Thomas Doxiadis
• 45. EFFEKT (Copenhagen, Denmark) Sinus Lynge; Tue Foged
• 46. ELEMENTAL (Santiago de Chile, Chile) Alejandro Aravena; Victor Oddó; Gonzalo Arteaga; Diego Torres; Juan Cerda
• 47. Enlace Arquitectura (Caracas, Venezuela) Elisa Silva
• 48. Fieldoffice Architects (Yilan, Taiwan) Huang Sheng-Yuan
• 49. Han Tumertekin (Istanbul, Turkey)
• 50. Igneous Tectonics (Cambridge, USA) Cristina Parreño; Sergio Araya
• 51. Lacol (Barcelona, Spain) Ariadna Artigas; Mirko Gegundez; Lali Daví; Pol Massoni; Anna Clemente; Cristina Gamboa; Núria Vila; Jordi Miró; Ernest Garriga; Eliseu Arrufat; Laura Lluch; Lluc Hernandez; Arnau Andrés; Carles Baiges
• 52. Leong Leong (New York, USA) Dominic Leong; Christopher Leong
• 53. Manuel Herz Architects and Iwan Baan (Basel, Switzerland; Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Manuel Herz; Iwan Baan
• 54. NADAAA (Boston, USA) Nader Tehrani; Arthur Chang
• 55. OMA (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) Reinier de Graaf
• 56. PRÁCTICA (Madrid, Spain) Jaime Daroca Guerrero; José Mayoral Moratilla; José Ramón Sierra Gómez de León
• 57. raumlaborberlin (Berlin, Germany) Andrea Hofmann; Axel Timm; Benjamin Foerster-Baldenius; Christof Mayer; Florian Stirnemann; Francesco Apuzzo; Frauke Gerstenberg; Jan Liesegang; Markus Bader
• 58. S.E.L (Cambridge, USA; Paris, France) Verena Paravel; Lucien Castaing-Taylor
• 59. Sean Lally (Lausanne, Switzerland; Chicago, USA)
• 60. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (New York, USA) Colin Koop
• 61. Storia Na Lugar (Praia, Cabo Verde) Patti Anahory; Cesar Schofield Cardoso
• 62. studio L A (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Lorien Beijaert; Arna Mačkić
• 63. Superflux (London, UK) Anab Jain; Jon Ardern
• 64. TUMO Center for Creative Technologies (Yerevan, Armenia) Marie Lou Papazian; Pegor Papazian
• 65. UNStudio (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Ben van Berkel; Caroline Bos
• 66. WOJR (Cambridge, USA) William O'Brien Jr.

As new households, Atelier Rita. Image courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

Across Borders (Giardini, Central Pavilion)

• 67. AAU ANASTAS (Bethlehem, Palestine) Elias Anastas; Yousef Anastas
• 68. ACASA GRINGO CARDIA DESIGN (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Gringo Cardia with AIKAX, Takumã Kuikuro (Amazonas, MG, Brazil) and People’s Palace Projects, Paul Heritage (London, UK)
• 69. ASSET Production Studio (Berlin, Germany) Anna-Sophie Springer with Ibu Kota Kolektif (Indonesia); Yayasan Peta Bencana (Indonesia); Nashin Mahtani (Indonesia) and Armin Linke (Italy; Germany)
• 70. Atelier Marko Brajovic (São Paulo, Brazil) Marko Brajovic; Bruno Bezerra
• 71. BASE studio (Santiago, Chile) Barbara Barreda; Felipe Sepulveda
• 72. Dan Majka & Gary Setzer (Madison and Tucson, USA) Dan Majka; Gary Setzer
• 73. Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency (Beit Sahour, Palestine) Alessandro Petti; Sandi Hilal
• 74. Dogma (Brussels, Belgium) Martino Tattara; Pier Vittorio Aureli
• 75. Forensic Oceanography (London, UK) Charles Heller; Lorenzo Pezzani
• 76. Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory (FAST) (Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New York, USA) Malkit Shoshan
• 77. GFA (Sydney, Australia) Guillermo Fernández-Abascal; Urtzi Grau
• 78. Giuditta Vendrame (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
• 79. Heatherwick Studio (London, UK) Thomas Heatherwick
• 80. La Minga (Quito, Ecuador) Pablo Escudero
• 81. Lateral Office and Arctic Design Group (Toronto, Canada; Charlottesville, USA) Mason White; Lola Sheppard; Leena Cho; Matthew Jull
• 82. Matilde Cassani, Ignacio G. Galan, Ivan L. Munuera, Joel Sanders (Milan, Italy; New York, USA; Princeton, USA; New Haven, USA)
• 83. Michael Maltzan Architecture (Los Angeles, USA) Michael Maltzan
• 84. MDP Michel Desvigne Paysagiste (Paris, France) Michel Desvigne
• 85. Monsoon Assemblages and Office of Experiments (London, UK) Lindsay Bremner; Neal White
• 86. Olalekan Jeyifous (Brooklyn, USA) and Mpho Matsipa (Johannesburg, South Africa and New York, USA)
• 87. Paula Nascimento (Luanda, Angola)
• 88. Pinar Yoldas (San Diego, USA)
• 89. Rural Urban Framework (Hong Kong, China) Joshua Bolchover; John Lin
• 90. Smout Allen ( London, UK) Laura Allen; Mark Smout; Geoff Manaugh
• 91. Somatic Collaborative (New York, USA) Anthony Acciavatti; Felipe Correa; Devin Dobrowolski
• 92. Studio Paola Viganò (Milan, Italy) Paola Viganò
• 93. Studio Tomás Saraceno (Berlin, Germany) Tomás Saraceno
• 94. UNLESS (Hamburg, Germany) Giulia Foscari Widmann Rezzonico
• 95. Vogt Landscape Architects (Zürich, Switzerland) Günther Vogt

Across borders, Maltzan, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

As One Planet (Giardini, Central Pavilion)

• 96. Bethany Rigby (London, UK)
• 97. Cave_bureau (Nairobi, Kenya) Karanja Kabage; Stella Mutegi
• 98. Christina Agapakis, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg & Sissel Tolaas (Boston, USA; London, UK; Berlin, Germany)
• 99. DESIGN EARTH (Cambridge and Ann Arbor, USA) Rania Ghosn; El Hadi Jazairy
• 100. Kei Kaihoh Architects (Tokyo, Japan) Kei Kaihoh
• 101. Mabe Bethônico (Belo Horizonte, Brazil; Geneva, Switzerland)
• 102. OOZE and Marjetica Potrč (Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Lubjiana, Slovenia) Eva Pfannes; Sylvain Hartenberg; Marjetica Potrč
• 103. Plan B Architecture & Urbanism (New Haven, USA) Joyce Hsiang; Bimal Mendis
• 104. Self-Assembly Lab (Cambridge, USA) Skylar Tibbits; Jared Laucks; Schendy Kernizan
• 105. spbr arquitetos (Sao Paolo, Brazil) Angelo Bucci
• 106. TVK (Paris, France) Pierre Alain Trévelo; Antoine Viger-Kohler
• 107. Urban Theory Lab (UTL) Harvard GSD / Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich (Cambridge, USA; Zürich, Switzerland) Neil Brenner; Christian Schmid
• 108. Weitzman School of Design (Philadelphia, USA) Richard Weller

Cave_bureau, "Mbai Cave Steam + Struggle," The Anthropocene Museum: Exhibit 3.0 "Obsidian Rain," 2017. Courtesy Cave_bureau. Image Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

How will we play together? (Forte Marghera)

• 109. AWILDC-AWP london (London, UK; New York, USA) Alessandra Cianchetta
• 110. HAJEK & SKULL + MOLOARCHITEKTI (Prague, Czech Republic) Matej Hajek; Tereza Kucerova
• 111. HHF Architects (Basel, Switzerland) Tilo Herlach; Simon Hartmann; Simon Frommenwiler
• 112. Ifat Finkelman & Deborah Pinto Fdeda (Tel Aviv, Israel)
• 113. Sean Ahlquist - University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, USA) Sean Ahlquist
• 114. Wissam Chaaya (Beirut, Lebanon)

Top image: Giardini, image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of Venice Architecture Biennale

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