Don’t get it twisted. The Venice Architecture Biennale is the single most prestigious international exhibition for architecture, with over 170,000 visitors in 2010. While ogling the Biennale in support of Team Canada, we realize there's more to Canada's presence in the city than meets the eye. The Canadian pavilion, for instance, has been around since 1958, and is one of 29 national pavilions in the Biennale's Giardini.
So, how did Canada represent itself in the Venice Architecture Biennale in the past few years? Who are the people that have put our country on the architectural map? Here are our findings.
5th International Architecture Exhibition, 1991
Director: Francesco Dal Co
Commissioner: Canadian Centre for Architecture
Exhibiting Artists/Architects: Canadian Centre for Architecture building
6th International Architecture Exhibition, 1996
Sensing the Future - The Architect as Seismograph
A photo of the Barnes Home, which won four architectural awards in the early to mid 1990s, gives us a sense of Patkau Architects' style.
Director: Hans Hollein
Commissioner: Canadian Centre for Architecture
Exhibiting Architects: Patkau Architects
7th International Architecture Exhibition, 2000
Less Aesthetics, More Ethics
Director: Massimiliano Fuksas
Commissioner: Canadian Centre for Architecture
Curators: Helen Malkin, Phyllis Lambert
Exhibiting Artist/Architect: Melvin Charney’s UN DICTIONNAIRE...
8th International Architecture Exhibition, 2002
Next
Director: Deyan Sudjic
Commissioner: InterAccess
Curators: John Knechtel and Michael Awad
Exhibiting Artists/Architects: NEXT MEMORY CITY, Michael Awad, David Rockeby and Eve Egoyan
9th International Architecture Exhibition, 2004
METAMORPH
Director: Kurt W. Forster
Commissioner: Saucier + Perrotte
Curator: George Adamczyk
Exhibiting Artists/Architects: Objets Trouvés, Saucier + Perrotte Architects
10th International Architecture Exhibition, 2006
Cities, architecture and society
The main element of SweaterLodge was a giant polar fleece sweater. Talk about a warm (and unabashedly Canadian) welcome.
Director: Richard Burdett
Commissioner: Charles H. Scott Gallery
Curators: Greg Bellerby and Chris Macdonald
Exhibiting Artists/Architects: SweaterLodge by Pechet and Robb Studio of Vancouver
11th International Architecture Exhibition, 2008
Out There: Architecture Beyond Building
The Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre by Hotson Bakker Boniface Haden Architects is just one example of a building that attempts to address the environmental and cultural challenges of sustainability, which was an overarching theme at the Biennale in 2008.
Director: Aaron Betsky
Commissioner: Cambridge Galleries
Curators: John McMinn and Marco Polo
Exhibiting Artists/Architects: 41° to 66°: Architecture in Canada – Region, Culture, Tectonics
12th International Architecture Exhibition, 2010
People meet in architecture
Director: Kazuo Seijima
Commissioner & Curator: PBAi
Exhibiting Architect: Hylozoic Ground by Philip Beesley. High-rise images at designboom.
13th International Architecture Exhibition, 2012
Common Ground
And so we arrive to present day. Commissioned by Migrating Landscapes Organizer and directed by David Chipperfield, the Migrating Landscapes exhibition exposes residential design by young Canadian architects who have experienced migration. We've been covering this on our blog since December 2011, and the project is ongoing, so here are the latest updates from the Canadian team.
- At First Sight Films makes an awesome video of Migrating Landscapes, with some great film stills.
- Apparently, babies are into Migrating Landscapes, too. (via TheAcre.ca)
- Migrating Landscapes gets a spot in Canadian Architect, designboom and, our favourite, CBC, in July
How does the official selection process work?
A call for submissions is issued to Canadian galleries and museums, and architectural firms, institutions and organizations. A peer assessment committee at the Canada Council for the Arts then makes a selection, providing base funding for the event. RAIC / Architecture Canada partner with the CCA to develop new project management, communications and fundraising support.
2014 call for submissions
Want to become a part of architecture history? The Canada Council for the Arts sent out a call for submissions for 2014. Find out what it takes to submit your architectural project.
Read more about the previous projects featured in this post via Canada Council for the Arts.
