The 10th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale
The 10th International Architecture Exhibition of Venice [1], titled "Cities, Architecture and Society", focuses on the main issues with which large metropolitan centres are faced internationally: from immigration and social disintegration to hesitantly introduced policies regarding sustainability and their awkward counterparts regarding social cohesion.
The Concept of the Greek Participation
The Aegean Archipelago as a dispersed city The governing concept of the Greek participation in the 10th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale is a presentation of the Aegean as a city. A reference to the thought of Italian philosopher and mayor of the city of Venice Massimo Cacciari, the notion of the Archipelago is presented in the Greek pavilion as a vital allegory for mutual social understanding. In the context of the discourse regarding the metacity, the Aegean is introduced as a counter yet extant example of an aquatic city that is a radiating land of desire. Its allure does not stem from the sediments of nostalgia, but rather from the enduring character of a structure of habitation that contains the promise of a different metacity, one that intently embraces the call for freedom. The fact that the islands are surrounded by the sea, exposed to light, the sun and mighty winds of the Aegean delineates the unconditional relationship of the Archipelagic city with its nature, proposing not an anachronism but a topical, alternative form of urbanity throbbing with the intrinsic tensions of the metacity. The exhibition Apart from established representations of the Aegean: the blue of the sea, the landscape’s lucidity, the bright, unsullied light, the winds and every possible allegory associated with its natural geography –youthfulness, health, sustainability– the Greek pavilion also presents the islands’ human geography, altering as it is under the pressure exerted by exceptional demographic conditions, and, of course, the special contribution of the architecture of settlements and buildings to shaping the islands’ habitation models and particular physiognomy. The exhibition is based on the metaphor of the journey across the seas. And this, because the perception of the Aegean as a city and the drafting of the mental map of this city is based precisely on aquatic networks and the sea routes followed on this journey. In the exhibition, the Archipelago is described as a map of meanings, the experience of the Aegean as an experience of moving from one place to another and the ships sailing in it as the city’s floating squares, its assumed public spaces. As the hidden images in children’s connect-the-dot sketches emerge through zigzag lines, so will the sense of cohesion, the shape and manifold meaning of the sea emerge and be recognized via those zigzag lines that connect the journey’s various destinations. The exhibition features electronic maps and models of the city that is the Aegean, which record its constantly shifting character. The way of reading the stars, identifying and interpreting constellations in the sky, is employed here for the purpose of clarifying the city’s multiple identities. The main part of the project is housed in the Greek pavilion at the Giardini. However, for the purpose of a more lucid representation of the exhibition’s central concept (the journey), the exhibition’s installation takes over the Greek pavilion’s fore garden as well. The catalogue The exhibition’s catalogue elucidates the concept of the Greek participation. Apart from the essays of the four curators, the catalogue also includes contributions by Greek and foreign architects and artists representing various expressive fields (the visual arts, photography, the cinema, poetry), as well as by theorists and critics of architecture, anthropologists and philosophers, each examining the exhibition’s concept from the standpoint of their particular area of expertise. Contributors include: M. Cacciari, R. Romano, S. Asdrahas [2], A. Elefantis, D. Fatouros, F. Yiannissi, Z. Kotionis, P. Tournikiotis, C. Kotsakis, Th. Moutsopoulos, P. Boussiou, N. Xydakis, V. Kantsa., M. Marmaras, Ch. Boulotis, St. Stavridis, G. Zahariadis, G. Vokos, M. Wigley, M. Mitropoulos, N. Belavilas, V. Moutafi, L. Myrivili, O. Lafazani, L. Leontidou, G. Tzirtzilakis, D. Philippides, V. Petridou, C. Dekavallas, A. Romanos, A. Giakoumakatos, V. Kolonas, S. Georgiades, U. Tanyeli, C. Manolides, Th. Doxiadis, D. Papalexopoulos, A. Stavridou, Vlavianos, V. Bozineki-Didoni, V. Kotzamanis, V. Pappas. The catalogue also includes: - A Dictionary / Architectural Map contributed by guest editor Apostolos Kalfopoulos, featuring a large number of works of contemporary architecture in the Aegean. - A photographical narrative, by photographers Stratos Kalafatis and Spyros Staveris. - A chapter titled “Pass Ports”, contributed by guest editor Memos Philippides, in which figures of international renown from various fields such as literature, art, architecture, the cinema, sports, business and politics (M. Theodorakis, A. C. Baeza, J. Skolimowsky, Ap. Georgiou and others) recount their impressions from their travels in the Aegean. - An autonomous chapter of representations of the Aegean experience in literature, including short stories by A. Antonas, S. Nikolaidi, poet Dimsothenis Kordopatis and Ev. Trivizas. The catalogue is published by futura publications. PARALLEL EVENTS PANEL DISCUSSION “The Architecture of the Dispersed City” Taking their cue from the theme of the 10th Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, the curators of the Greek participation have invited ten established architects and critics of architecture to participate in a panel discussion regarding the way in which architecture engages in the constant transformation of the island landscape, as well as the degree of this engagement. Apart from the four curators, professors of Architecture in Architecture Schools of Greece and abroad participated in the discussion: D. A. Fatouros, D. Filippides, G. Aisopos and G. Tzirtzilakis, the professors of European Universities, S. Vyzoviti and K. Patestos, the director of the magazine “Architecture as Art” of the Architects’ Association of Thessaloniki Mimi Hatzisavva, and professor Rena Sakellaridou, commissionaire of the Cypriot participation in the Biennale. The meeting took place on 18th July 2006, in the ruined site of the Xenia Hotel –currently occupied by foreign immigrants, designed by Aris Constantinides and located on the island of Andros. The meeting was filmed by Spyros Papadopoulos, editor of the Spanish-English architecture review “Metalocus”, and a short version of the film is presented at the Greek pavilion. CONFERENCE “The Dispersed City / The Body, Habitation, Public Space” Cartography and Topography: Representation or Reconstruction?” SEMINAR “The Dispersed City / Topical Transformations of Urbanity” We should note the fact that the Schools of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Patras have had the exceptional honour to be among the 10 Schools of Architecture from around the world invited to attend the special Working Seminar organised on the initiative of the Italian Commissioner and dealing with the problems of large urban centres. [1] The Architecture Section of the Venice Biennale was first organized in 1980 as an independent event in the institution’s context drawing international participation. It has since been the most important international exhibition and forum for discussion in the field of architecture. More than 60 countries representing all five continents regularly participate in the Biennale. The Biennale’s 9th edition attracted a total of 115,000 visitors, architects and other professionals in the field, as well as many journalists from Greece and abroad. [2] Asdrahas, Spyros, The Greek Archipelago, a far-flung city, OLKOS Publishers Spyros Staveris
Stratos Kalafatis
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Venice Biennale, Giardini, Greek Pavilion
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