Author: Marco Voltolina
The 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, entitled "The Laboratory of the Future" and curated by Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic and novelist Lesley Lokko (b. 1964), is based on very ambitious premises. After decades in which the Architecture Biennale had focused mostly on analysing problems and asking questions, this edition was meant to propose solutions and give at least some answers, drawing from the immense and often overlooked heritage of African traditions, African diaspora, and Indigenous cultures in general. Centered around the twin themes of "decolonisation" and "decarbonisation", Lesley Lokko's Biennale established high expectations among the architectural community. However, in the end it did not fully measure up to such expectations. Italian architecture critic Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi (b. 1956) even went as far as defining this edition of the Biennale "insignificant" (2023).
We can identify some important weaknesses, both with regard to the contents of the exhibition, and to the way these contents were presented. Starting from the latter question, we can argue that the Biennale is not able to convey many of its ideas: be it on purpose or not, most works refrain from making themselves easily understandable. As pointed out by British architecture critic Rowan Moore (b. 1961), the installations "are wilfully hard to understand, unilluminated by wordy and opaque captions – in a kind of language that architectural academe for some reason loves" (2023). Another review laments that "works are lost at times, aided only by tiny captions on the wall written in 'archi-speak'", with the consequence that "some projects are likely undersold, obscuring the depth of meaning that had no doubt led to their selection" (Effiom et al., 2023). In fact, the captions in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini and the Corderie of the Arsenale are often hard to read, not only because of their abstruse language, but also because of some poor graphic choices. Some installations do not provide enough text to explain their concepts, while others submerge the visitors with more text than actual exhibits. Moreover, as many critics noticed, there is an excessive amount of videos:
"the sheer quantity of film media is at times both overwhelming and esoteric. Expecting visitors, many of whom will be students, to watch multiple 30-minute documentaries on sometimes niche aspects of architectural practice is a tall ask."
(ibid.)
If this Biennale is difficult to understand and interpret for architects, critics and experts, we can only imagine what this means for ordinary people: a huge missed opportunity, especially considering that the Venice Biennale is one of the few occasions in which our discipline has the chance to open up to the general public.
The other main weakness of Lesley Lokko's exhibition, however, lies in its contents - or rather, in its lack of contents. The exhibition, in fact, misses the very core theme of the Biennale: that is, it lacks Architecture (understood in its broader meaning, including not only building design, but also interior design, urban design, landscape design, urban and territorial planning). There are very few projects, maquettes, drawings and renderings, and even the installations centered on critical and theoretical reflections often miss the point and have nothing to do with architecture. This choice was made on purpose by the curator, as the introduction texts written by Lesley Lokko proudly declare that the participants invited to exhibit their works at this Biennale are not architects, but "practitioners", an empty word that dissipates the raison d'être of the "Architecture" Biennale. Italian architect Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani (b. 1951) perfectly sums up the question:
"In an exhibition whose subject is architecture, its absence becomes a very strong statement. And it raises the question of whether Lesley Lokko’s absolutely deliberate openness foreshadows an enrichment of the discipline or instead its disintegration."
(2023)
Despite everything, there were still some interesting installations that is worth mentioning. First of all, a note of merit should go to the few designers that presented architectural models of beautiful projects - even though they were not really related with the main themes of the exhibition: among them, the large architecture firm Adjaye Associates (with offices in Accra, London and New York), the Barcelona-based office Flores & Prats Architects, and the Beijing-based office ZAO/standardarchitecture.
Figure 1. Architectural model of a project by Adjaye Associates, displayed in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
Figure 2. Architectural models and drawings by Flores & Prats Architects, displayed in the Corderie of the Arsenale. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
Figure 3. Architectural model of a project by ZAO/standardarchitecture, displayed in the Corderie of the Arsenale. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
More importantly, the Biennale also included some fascinating installations that brought to light brilliant ideas from Africa and the African diaspora. Nigerian-American visual artist Olalekan Jeyifous (b. 1977), for example, imagined a pan-African utopia made of advanced rapid transit systems, innovative technology and harmony with the natural environment. Niamey-based architecture office Atelier Masōmī presented instead architectural models, drawings and videos that illustrate projects deeply rooted in the local context, respecting its culture, climate and traditional architecture. Oakland-based Hood Design Studio, on the other hand, explored how traditional sweetgrass basket making could inspire new projects for the rebirth of the Black cultural landscape of Charleston and the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Figure 4. Rendering of Olalekan Jeyifous's pan-African utopia, displayed in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
Figure 5. Model of a project by Atelier Masōmī, displayed in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
Figure 6. Installation by Hood Design Studio, displayed in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
Finally, it is worth mentioning a few other installations that, despite being a bit obscure and not really well-presented, still brought up interesting ideas that could potentially have a great impact on the future of architecture. One of them is Bunt Ban, a video that shows the incredible work carried out by construction company Elementerre, which is promoting throughout Senegal the use of sustainable local materials such as raw earth. Another one is An Architectural Botany, a display of pictures taken by American ethnobotanist William Balée (b. 1954) in the 1980s, when he studied the Ka'apor people and discovered that large areas of the Amazon Forest are not natural, but rather are the result of the work of Indigenous people, a product of the symbiotic relationship that they had with their environment: they are, in other words, an architectural masterpiece. Finally, a very interesting installation was The Nebelivka Hypothesis, by British archeologist David Wengrow (b. 1972), British Israeli architect Eyal Weizman (b. 1970) and London-based research group Forensic Architecture: they studied how some 6,000-year-old settlements in Ukraine, similar in scale to the early cities of Mesopotamia, had a surprisingly light ecological footprint and instead their presence actually accelerated the formation of the hyper-fertile black soils for which that region is famous. Their conclusion is that "our concept of ‘the city’ as rooted in a history of extraction, predation and hierarchy must also change".
Figure 7. An Architectural Botany, with the photos taken by William Balée, displayed in the Corderie of the Arsenale. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
Figure 8. The Nebelivka Hypothesis, by David Wengrow, Eyal Weizman and Forensic Architecture, displayed in the Corderie of the Arsenale. Picture by Marco Voltolina – CC BY-NC 2.5
A few interesting installations, however, do not change the general outcome of this Biennale. The exhibition, unfortunately, wasted a unique opportunity to show the great value of African and Indigenous cultures and the crucial contributions that they could give to the fight for decolonisation and decarbonisation.
One question remains open. Was this just an accident due to some wrong choices made by Lesley Lokko and her team, or is this a symptom of a larger crisis that is affecting the architectural discipline, an incapability to find solutions for today's complex challenges?
Sources:
Effiom, Ewa, et al. "The usual champagne-socialist pomposity of Venice has been drowned out by a newfound openness". Dezeen, 2 June 2023.
Magnago Lampugnani, Vittorio. "Venice Architecture Biennale 2023: Indignation without architecture". Domus, 13 June 2023.
Moore, Rowan. "Venice Biennale 2023 review – an important challenge to western architectural tradition". The Guardian, 21 May 2023.
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