This year the Venice Biennale will become an epicenter of reflections about architecture considering its past, its present and, consequently, its future.
Coordinating architectural histories of 66 nations the curator of the 14th edition, Rem Koolhaas, is presenting the upcoming exhibition (open from the 7th of June until the 23d of November) as a research center that is aiming to create a global overview and analysis of the architectural world.
By understanding the recent dynamics of styles and the fundamental elements on which contemporary architecture is based on, Koolhaas’ goal has been to set a milestone from which hopefully it will be possible to define future directions of the architectural trends.
The global language of Modernism has affected almost an entire century defining a dictionary filled with definitions such as units, blocks, pilotis, seriality…How is that dictionary evolving and developing in the 21st century?
There is a missing link in the history of architecture and some sort of recapitulation from the modernism to its legacy is needed in order to speculate on its future.
The Exhibition will consist in three interlocking chapters called Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014, Elements of Architecture and Monditalia .
The first chapter will consist of a tour through the national pavilions showing each nation’s past and how its architecture has accepted the language of the modernism.
The second, Elements of Architecture, located in the central Pavilion, will separate different elements composing the architectural dictionary, its fundamentals, such as the floor, the wall, the ceiling, the roof, the door, the window, the façade, the balcony, the corridor, the fireplace, the toilet, the stair, the escalator, the elevator, the ramp.
Monditalia, which is going to take place in the Arsenale buildings, will display the Italian architecture and its relation with politics, religion, theatre economics and technology.
