The 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, inaugurated on May 20th, is truly embodying its theme: "The laboratory of the future". Presented by the main curator Lesley Lokko, it invited "architects and professionals from an expanded field of creative disciplines to draw examples from their contemporary practices that would pave a path for the audience to move forward, imagining for themselves what the future may hold."
The Chilean pavilion, curated by Gonzalo Carrasco, and Alejandro Beals, as well as Loreto Lyon (Beals Lyon Arquitectos), was centered on "Moving Ecologies." The exhibition presented the current challenges regarding ecological repair and restoration, focusing on the study of soil recovery processes using endemic seeds.
For us, the future is not a fixed point, objective, or an Eden to reach; rather, it is a field of contingencies, experiences, and situations. The central theme is to think about architecture in conjunction and collaboration with other species. - Gonzalo Carrasco, curator of the Chile Pavilion.
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Emerging Themes at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale: Highlights from the National Pavilions"Moving Ecologies" addresses how in the original project of the Quinta Normal de Santiago, "architecture and science allowed us to imagine the future of a country that was entering modernity" in the 19th century, according to the organizers.
Unlike other years, the Chilean Pavilion is located within the main halls of the Arsenale. It is part of the main route for visitors. From the beginning, we wanted to merge, by contrast, with what we imagined the other exhibitors would do, creating a sort of pause, a quieter space, an atmospheric condition that invites stopping and closely observing this collection of 250 seeds. - Alejandro Beals, curator of the Chile Pavilion.
The Undersecretary of Culture and the Arts, Andrea Gutiérrez, stated in official declarations that the exhibition proposal, being chosen to represent the country, "addresses important cultural and social issues related to the reconstruction of degraded soils in Chile."
We believe that the future of humanity is linked to preserving plant species, especially native ones. We believe that architecture alone cannot continue without working with those contexts and territories. - Loreto Lyon, curator of the Chile Pavilion.
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