People Meet in Architecture is the title chosen by the artistic director of the 12th edition of the world’s most important architecture exhibition, Kazuyo Sejima, the first woman to direct the Architecture Biennale and, furthermore, the winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2010 together with her partner Ryue Nishizawa.

“The Biennale should be a reflection on architecture”, Seijima said. “The XXI century has just started. Many radical changes are taking place and, in such a rapid-changing context, can architecture clarify new values and new lifestyle for the present?”, she said while adding that she expects this show to be “a chance to experience the manifold possibilities of architecture as well as to account for its plurality of approaches, each one of them being a different way of living. ”

For Paolo Baratta, president of this International event, “a new Biennale is born”. According to him “it is a new alliance under the name of architecture and its related disciplines, as well as a renewed impulse to see the Architecture Biennale turn into an international pilgrimage spot for teachers and students alike, architects and engineers from the entire world.”

The exhibition will be laid out mainly in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni della Biennale in the Giardini and in the Arsenale, thus forming a single itinerary, with 48 participants; firms, architects, engineers and artists from around the world. The first-time national participations include Albania, Iran, Malaysia, Morocco and Rwanda. Also, numerous Collateral events have been proposed by international organizations and institutions, which organize their own exhibitions and initiatives in Venice during the occasion.

Spanish representation

Among the renowned international architects participating at the Biennale, Spanish architecture studios include Anton García Abril & Ensamble Studio, Andrés Jaque Arquitectos, Selgas Cano and AMID.Cero9, presenting different project in the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and the Arsenal, according to the information provided by the Sociedad Estatal para la Accion Cultural en el Exterior.

Antón García-Abril & Ensamble Studio present the installation titled Balancing Act at the Arsenal; two large concrete beams accompanied by projections and other construction elements intend to visually break the structure of the enormous building that hosts the project.

On their behalf, Andrés Jaque Arquitectos, propose the installation Fray Foam Home which occupies the central space of the Palazzo delle Esposizioni della Biennale de Giardini. The project is the result of the research, which started in 2006, on the ways that architecture can turn into an obligatory passage point of public controversies that are currently subject of debate.

In the third place, the Selgas Cano studio will participate with the installation Vacuum pack-ing; using the system of vacuum packaging they will exhibit numerous objects belonging to the architecture studio. It is a sensorial project which provides a great visual impact since the transparent packaging system plays with the walls of the room covered with mirrors and invites the audience to touch the objects and interact with them.

Finally, AMID.CERO9 will show the Model of Palacio del Cerezo Valle del Jerte; a project which will be located in the vicinity of El Cabrera in Valle del Jerte (Caceres). It is a monumental building which will become a real reference point for the villages of the valley and which establishes an intense relationship with the landscape with its volume, position and colour. The model will be presented alongside photographs showing the project once it is finished in Valle del Jerte. 

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