Venice Architecture Biennale June 7-November 23, 2014

The President of the Venice Biennale, Paolo Baratta, accompanied by the curator of the 14th edition of the International Architecture Exhibition, Rem Koolhaas, met, at Ca' Giustinian, with representatives from 40 countries participating in the 14th Exhibition, which will take place from June 7 to November 23, 2014 in the Giardini and Arsenale and other public facilities in Venice (preview on June 5 and 6).

Rem Koolhaas said:

"Fundamente will be a Biennale about architecture, not about architects. After many Biennials dedicated to celebrating contemporaneity, Fundamente will look at histories - at the elements of any architecture used by any architect, in any place, at any time (the door, the floor, the ceiling, etc.) and at the evolution of national architectures over the last 100 years. Taking place in the Central Pavilion, the Arsenale and the National Pavilions as three complementary events, this retrospective will generate a new perspective on the rich repertoire of architectural fundamentals that is apparently so depleted today.

In 1914, a discourse deprecating 'Chinese', 'Swiss' or 'Indonesian' architecture made sense. A hundred years later - under the influence of wars, various political regimes, with different levels of development, national and international architectural movements, having individual talents, friendships, serendipitous personal trajectories and technological developments - architectures that were once specific and local have become interchangeable and global. National identity seems to have been sacrificed to modernity.

Having the decided advantage of starting work a year earlier than the typical Biennale program, we hope to use this extra time to introduce a degree of coordination and coherence among the National Pavilions. Ideally, we would like the participating countries to address a single theme - Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014 - and to expose, each in its own way, the process of erasing national characteristics in favor of an almost universal adoption of a single modern language in a single repertoire of typologies.

World War I - the beginning of modern globalization - serves as a starting point for a variation of narratives. The transition to what seems like a universal architectural language is a much more complex process than what we typically recognize, involving significant encounters between cultures, technical inventions and imperceptible ways of remaining national. In a time of the ubiquity of Google search and the flattening of cultural memory, it is crucial for the future of architecture to resurrect and expose these narratives.

By cumulatively telling a history of the last 100 years, the exhibitions in the National Pavilions will generate a holistic view of architecture's evolution into a single modern aesthetic. At the same time, they reveal through globalization the survival of unique national elements and mindsets that continue to exist and even flourish as international associations and intesifying exchanges ... "

President Paolo Baratta explained the evolution of the Architecture Biennale and the choice of Rem Koolhaas:

"We are universally recognized as the most important event in the world for Architecture; we are the place where Architecture speaks about itself and meets life and society on a grand scale. For this reason, in recent years, the choice of curators and themes has been based on an awareness of the hiatus between, on the one hand, the "spectacularization" of architecture and, on the other hand, the lack of vitality of society's capacity to express its demands and needs. Architects are predominantly called upon to create extraordinary and inspiring buildings, while the 'ordinary' is derailed and left aside, drifting towards banality or even obsolescence: this is modernity lived in the wrong way.

At the height of this process I asked Rem Koolhaas to embark on an original research project.

The exhibition evolves in the way it is organized. Born as an "imitation" of the Art Exhibition and developed to "invite" architects to bring their installations, like the Art Biennale, it is now evolving into a major Research Exhibition project directly directed by the curator (who is, in fact, appointed as the director of the Architecture section of the Biennale). Participating countries are given the opportunity to better integrate into this project. The Exhibition will be amplified by an increased number of activities throughout its duration, with workshops and seminars that will enrich it, turning it into an active Exhibition . For this reason we have decided to bring forward the opening date to June 7 and to make the Exhibition last as long as the Art Exhibition (about 6 months)."

The 14th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale will also present, already traditionally, the National Participations with their own Pavilion Exhibitions in the Giardini and Arsenale Pavilions, as well as in the historic center of Venice.

This edition will include a selection of Collateral Events, presented by organizations and institutions that will showcase their exhibitions and present their initiatives in Venice concurrently with the 14th Exhibition.

The President of la Biennale di Venezia, Paolo Baratta, accompanied by the curator of the^14th International Architecture Exhibition, Rem Koolhaas, met at Ca' Giustinian with the representatives of the 40 Countries participating in the^14th Exhibition, which will take place from ^7th of June to^23rd of November 2014 at the Giardini and at the Arsenale (preview on^5th and^6th of June) and in various other venues in Venice.

Rem Koolhaas has stated:

"Fundamentals will be a Biennale about architecture, not architects. After several Biennales dedicated to the celebration of the contemporary, Fundamentals will focus on histories - on the inevitable elements of all architecture used by any architect, anywhere, anytime (the door, the floor, the ceiling etc.) and on the evolution of national architectures in the last 100 years. In three complementary manifestations - taking place in the Central Pavilion, the Arsenale, and the National Pavilions - this retrospective will generate a fresh understanding of the richness of architecture's fundamental repertoire, apparently so exhausted today.

In 1914, it made sense to talk about a "Chinese" architecture, a "Swiss" architecture, an "Indian" architecture. One hundred years later, under the influence of wars, diverse political regimes, different states of development, national and international architectural movements, individual talents, friendships, random personal trajectories and technological developments, architectures that were once specific and local have become interchangeable and global. National identity has seemingly been sacrificed to modernity.

Having the decisive advantage of starting work a year earlier than the Biennale's typical schedule, we hope to use this extra time to introduce a degree of coordination and coherence among the National Pavilions. Ideally, we would want the represented countries to engage a single theme - Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014 - and to show, each in their own way, the process of the erasure of national characteristics in favor of the almost universal adoption of a single modern language in a single repertoire of typologies.

The transition to what seems like a universal architectural language is a more complex process than we typically recognize, involving significant encounters between cultures, technical inventions and imperceptible ways of remaining "national". In a time of ubiquitous Google research and the flattening of cultural memory, it is crucial for the future of architecture to resurrect and expose these narratives.

By telling the history of the last 100 years cumulatively, the exhibitions in the National Pavilions will generate a global overview of architecture's evolution into a single, modern aesthetic, and uncover within globalization the survival of unique national features and mentalities that continue to exist and flourish even as international collaboration and exchange intensify...

President Paolo Baratta explained the evolution of the Architecture Biennale and consequently the choice of Rem Koolhaas:

"We are universally recognized as the most important event in the world for Architecture; we are the place where Architecture talks about itself and meets life and society at large. For this reason over the past few years our choices of curators and themes have been based on the awareness of the gap between the "spectacularization" of architecture on the one hand, and the waning capacity of society to express its demands and its needs on the other hand. The architects are called upon prevalently to create awe-inspiring buildings and the "ordinary" is going astray, towards banality if not squalor: a modernity lived bad.

At the culmination of this process we have asked Rem Koolhaas to engage himself in an original research project.

The Exhibition is also evolving in the way it is organized. Born as an "imitation" of the Art Exhibition and developed to "invite" architects to bring us their installations, just like for the Art Biennale, it is evolving into a major Exhibition-research project conducted directly by the curator (who is in fact appointed as the director of the Architecture sector of the Biennale). The countries are offered the opportunity for a better integration into this research project. The Exhibition will be enhanced by an increasing number of activities throughout its duration, with workshops and seminars that enrich it as an active-Exhibition. For this reason we have decided to anticipate the opening date to the^7th of June and to make the Exhibition last as long as the Art Exhibition (about^6th months)".

The ^14th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia will also present, as is traditional, the National Participations with their own exhibitions in the Pavilions at the Giardini and at the Arsenale, and in the historic city center of Venice.

This edition will also include selected Collateral Events, presented by international entities and institutions, which will present their exhibitions and initiatives in Venice concurrently with the^14th Exhibition.