The Curator of the Biennale Architettura 2023, Lesley Lokko, invites applications from graduate students, graduates, early career academics and emerging practitioners for the first-ever Biennale College Architettura which will run from June 25th to July 22nd 2023 in Venice, Italy.

In line with the general goals of all Biennale Colleges, this first Biennale College Architettura will seek to complement and enrich the 18th International Architecture Exhibition by exploring how to place the exhibition’s central themes, decolonisation and decarbonisation, at the heart of architectural education. The process will culminate in a documentary, which will be screened as part of the exhibition.

Up to 50 participants will be selected from this International Open Call to work alongside a global cast of renowned practitioners, academics and policymakers on a range of design projects at different scales that map out new possibilities for architectural education in the coming decades. This educational experience will be thematically and physically situated amongst the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, The Laboratory of the Future, in Venice. Those participating in the College will enjoy direct access to the exhibited work of the participants of the Biennale Architettura 2023.

The Biennale College Architettura 2023 will operate through a series of experimental studios, seminars, lectures and public reviews, drawing on the rich history of radical and transformative pedagogies that have surfaced in architectural education over the past fifty years. The College will thus provide an explorative space for graduate students, graduates, early career practitioners, and emerging teachers and academics, to critically and creatively engage with each other, with experts and with the two most pressing concerns of our time: decolonisation and decarbonisation.

Eligibility

The following applicants are encouraged to apply, using the supporting documentation to verify eligibility (to be presented in English). We encourage applicants from as wide a range of built environment disciplinary backgrounds as possible, following the overall ambition of The Laboratory of the Future to broaden our understanding of our discipline. Preference will be given to applicants with strong design skills and interests, whether expressed through visual, text-based or performance media.

3.1 Graduate students under the age of 30
3.1.a.  National ID/Passport indicating applicant is under the age of 30 on 31 Dec 2023.
3.1.b.  Certificate of enrolment in Master’s Degree in Architecture (MSc) or an allied and relevant field (such as landscape architecture, urban design, interior architecture, design engineering or similar built environment practices).

3.2 Graduates under the age of 30
3.2.a.  National ID/Passport indicating applicant is under the age of 30 on 31 Dec 2023.
3.2.b.  Certificate of graduation in Master’s Degree in Architecture (MSc) or an allied and relevant field (such as landscape architecture, urban design, interior architecture, design engineering or similar built environment practices).

3.3 Early Career Academics & Educators under the age of 35
3.3.a.  National ID/Passport indicating applicant is under the age of 35 on 31 Dec 2023.
3.3.b.  Letter from University department indicating your role – e.g. PhD candidate, researcher, assistant professor, tutor, teaching fellow, etc., in Architecture or an allied and relevant field (such as landscape architecture, urban design, interior architecture, design engineering or similar built environment practices).

3.4 Early Career Practitioners under the age of 35
3.4.a.  National ID/Passport indicating applicant is under the age of 35 on 31 Dec 2023
3.4.b.  Details of professional registration in Architecture or related field or details of current practice in Architecture or related field together with a list of self/co-authored realised works (‘Realised works’ can include buildings, exhibitions, books and other completed works relevant to your practice in and through architecture).

Applications

Please apply, in English, via the dedicated application forms by 5pm CET (Italy) on February 17th, 2023.

Applicants as graduate students and graduates under the age of 30 on 31st December 2023 must register by filling in the APPLICATION FORM 1.

Applicants as early career academics & educators and early career practitioners under the age of 35 on 31st December 2023 must register by filling in the APPLICATION FORM 2.

To be deemed eligible for selection, the application process will require the following documents, to be presented in English, from each applicant, strictly following the format and limits specified.
All files must be named using the following format:
SURNAME_First name_Document name

4.1 Age Verification: Scan of your passport or national id document or equivalent (JPEG or PDF format, MAX 300 KB)
4.2 Supporting documentation as specified at paragraph 3 of the present call to verify your eligibility to apply (PDF format, 300 KB MAX)
4.3 An up-to-date CV of no more than two pages (700 words max, 3,600 characters spaces excluded, PDF format, 300KB MAX)
4.4 A single piece of visual work of no more than 5MB (drawing, photograph, video still, text, JPEG or PDF format). Please Use the following adjusted file naming system to indicate authorship and title:
SURNAME_Firstname_Title of work_Copyright-Surname_Firstname
4.5 A text of approximately 100 words in English that describes your position on decolonisation and decarbonisation (PDF format, 300KB MAX)
4.6 A link to ‘selfie’ video in English of no more than 60 seconds explaining how you will benefit from the experience of participating in the Biennale College Architettura 2023. The applicant will provide a link of the video uploaded on any online platform: no files to be downloaded. In the presence of a private video it will be possible to indicate its password on a dedicated field of the application form. The video must be available to view online until April 2023.

General Guidelines

A. APPLICATIONS
Applicants must meet the eligibility criteria and provide the verification specified in order to be deemed eligible for selection.
Incomplete applications or applications not strictly following the formats and limits specified will be deemed ineligible.
The application to be presented in English must be submitted online individually by each applicant. Joint applications are not eligible.
Late applications cannot be accepted. No exceptions can be made.

B. SELECTION
Up to 50 eligible participants will be selected following the open call deadline by the Curator of the Biennale Architettura 2023, Lesley Lokko, whose decision will be final.
Applicants will be chosen based on their eligibility and relevance of their application to the overall theme of the College and invitation of the Open Call.
The results of the selection will be communicated by the end of March 2023

C. RULES OF PARTICIPATION
Participation is mandatory for the whole College duration: June 25th to July 22nd, 2023
Each applicant will be requested to accept the conditions of the Biennale College Architettura Open Call in order to be eligible for selection.
Following the results’ communication, participants will sign an agreement with La Biennale di Venezia, which will detail the conditions of their participation.
All activities and teaching will be held in English.
There is no participation or registration fee either due from or to each participant.
Participants consent to their inclusion in photographic or filmic documentation of the College.
It is agreed that the Biennale is the sole owner of all rights to editorial all products developed for and in the frame of the Biennale College Architettura 2023 so each participant agrees that all rights, titles, and interests in any such products, even if they are modified by the Biennale intervention, including subsidiary rights, are and will be from their creation, if needed by assignment under this agreement, the exclusive property of the La Biennale. Consequently, each participant can not claim any such rights except the not renounceable right as “author” according to Italian law.

D. CONDITIONS OF HOSPITALITY
Participants will be hosted (room and board) for the duration of the College, in  Venice, in selected structures provided by La Biennale di Venezia. Only individual participants can be hosted. No additional guests can be accommodated.
La Biennale di Venezia will also take directly care of the participants round-trip travel in economy class.

La Biennale di Venezia reserves the right in any case to modify, cancel or interrupt the initiative described above, in that the announcement or the selection do not constitute a binding contract for the same, nor do they entail the right to the reimbursement of any expense other than those specified above.

Download the official brief. 

Top image courtesy of Biennale College Architettura. 

> via Venice Architecture Biennale