A Peek Inside The Canadian Pavilion At The 2012 Venice Biennale

Architizer News

A Peek Inside The Canadian Pavilion At The 2012 Venice Biennale

July 31, 2012

‘Migrating Landscapes.’ Image: Ryan Archer.

The thirteenth annual International Architecture Biennale will kick off at the end of August, with pavilions from 55 participating nations. This year’s theme, set by curator David Chipperfield, is ‘Common Ground,’ and Canada’s national pavilion will compliment it greatly.

Winniped-based 5468796 Architecture in conjunction with University of Manitoba professor Jae Sung Chon have formed Migrating Landscapes Organizer (MLO), the curating agency for the pavilion, which will feature 18 works from architects and students under 45. The theme, ‘Migrating Landscapes,’ will examine issues surrounding globalization and immigration, specifically in the context of architecture. It seeks to answer the question: how does design cross cultural, social, and political borders?

Image: Grajewski Fotograph

To investigate this new world of mobile people and ideas, MLO first created a conceptual grid from rectangular extrusions of various types of wood. In the words of MLO, “the landscape is envisioned as a grid mosaic – an abstraction of the physical [configuration], social [relationship], economic [size] and political [hierarchy] conditions that form Canada’s pluralistic cultural identity.” The projects, winners of a 2011 national competition, are then placed within this landscape, nestling into it but not being overwhelmed by the larger composition.