Neri&Hu presented “Liminality”, a multimedia exhibition selected by Lesley Lokko, at the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. The exhibition took place in the Dangerous Liaisons section of La Biennale di Venezia at the Arsenale. In response to Lokko’s curatorial statement, Neri&Hu’s display explored the concept of liminality, the “zone” between design practice and theoretical exploration. The display consisted of three adaptive reuse projects that represent the practice’s research in “Reflective Nostalgia, Recasting Vernacular, and Ruinophilia/Future Artifact.”
The three projects collectively share similar architectural strategies, using material contrast, tectonic variation, formal assemblage, and surgical grafting. Still, each project presents itself with its unique set of issues related to past occupancy. The works each utilize an archaeological approach, uncovering how one engages with the past in a healthy way.
Moreover, each project presents large conceptual models, displaying “isolated moments of tension.” Liminality is seen as a construct that can merge between past, present, and future intersections. The models use fragments and relics of post-industrial urban heritage and legacy.
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A Brick for Venice: Urban Radicals Explores Waste-based Construction in Response to the Rising Climate CrisisAs we imagine for ourselves what the future holds, we collectively occupy the liminal space of experimentation both in theoretical constructs and in design practice. In today’s post-colonial world, Homi Bhabha speaks about boundaries in culture as a place of liminality or ‘third space’ where translations and negotiations occur. Liminal space and the notion of the threshold represent a space of ambiguity that engenders new possibilities and changes. These spaces become the stage for transitory and frontier events that possess agencies for disrupting and challenging the status quo. -- Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu, founding partners of Neri&Hu.
Waterhouse at the South Bund (Shanghai 2008-2010)
Set in the context of a hotel, Neri&Hu explore the interpretation of domestic familiarity within an unfamiliar and foreign setting. Moreover, through investigating this typology, the studio’s design sensitively adapts a 1930s Japanese army building. Throughout this restoration, the thinking is concerned with “deliberate restraint,” consciously resisting the urge to superficially rectify each found flaw. Instead, they intentionally retain portions of unrefined walls, occasionally encasing these intricate features behind glass panels. The restoration draws inspiration for a typical Shanghai longtang alley, challenging habitation norms and redefining conventional notions of comfort.
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat (Yangzhou, 2015-2017)
In this display, Neri&Hu investigate a scenic site filled with small lakes and many existing dilapidated structures. The studio overlays a grid of narrow walled lanes that act as pathways to integrate incoherent spaces. Moreover, this reorganization creates pockets of space that act as courtyard enclosures, reinterpreting a contemporary Chinese garden. These gardens are sometimes left as lush gardens, and others are occupied as spaces for shared amenities.
Nantou City Guesthouse (Shenzhen, 2020-2021)
This protected village in the middle of busy Shenzhen presented many scales to explore: city, buildings, and singular structures. In the display, Neri&Hu created several ways to shift and blur the strict boundaries between inside and outside, celebrating the vibrant energy and objects in the street. In the guesthouse, the existing stairwell is cut open and creates a new vertical courtyard, inviting the urban alleyway into the heart of the building. The replacement stair is designed as a lightweight structure, serving as a social space where spontaneous interactions can take place. Overall, the urban conditions are intensified by the celebration of ruins and their careful usage.
Neri&Hu’s direct response to Lesley Lokko’s curatorial statement, outlining “The Laboratory of the Future,” explores settings where the innovative future can meet and respect the forgotten past. La Biennale di Venezia showcases many pavilions, exhibitions, and collateral events. As part of the European Cultural Center, Urban Radicals presents “A Brick for Venice,” an installation made entirely out of mud from the city’s canals. The European Cultural Center also showcased its sixth edition of the Time Space Architecture Exhibition, circling around sustainability, people displacement, and digital building technologies.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
