Return from a water taxi journey around the Giardini via zip line, explore the potential for “robot craftsmen” and discover much more this August at the Australian Pavilion during the 2012 International Venice Architecture Biennale. With the world-famous exhibition just around the corner, the Australian Institute of Architects have decided to release details on what to expect at their exhibit, Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture.
The Creative Directors, Anthony Burke and Gerard Reinmuth, said: “It’s very exciting to see how the architectural profession is evolving, the new domains that are being explored and the vitality and variety of innovative architectural types that Australia seems to foster. Formations highlights the range of unconventional and world-leading architectural practice types being developed across Australia, celebrating new opportunities for architects that are working in non-traditional and unexpected ways.”
Continue after the break to learn more.
Building upon the Common Ground theme presented by Director David Chipperfield, Formations will “act as a catalyst for discussion and debate around the changing role of architects and the ways in which they influence the world around them.” Concepts that unite the profession and differences that push it forward will be communicated through a program of events that will run alongside the exhibition. The collaborative environment will thrive on a series of workshops and informal discussions between international exhibitors and visitors.
Devised by Creative Directors Anthony Burke and Gerard Reinmuth with TOKO Concept Design, the exhibition itself will showcase six innovative architectural groups through a range of installations that challenge traditional perceptions of what it is to be an architect.
Formations’ six exhibitor teams:
Maribor 2012 European Cultural Capital, 2112Ai : 100YC (Year City) (Tom Kovac, Fleur Watson):
A group of international thinkers investigating disruptive patterns of global change and envisioning future impacts on architecture, urbanism, and life. 2112 Ai explores how new architectural practice ‘formations’ are responding to external demands on the profession, through multi-disciplinary and collaborative work.
A digital installation will showcase futuristic urban visions for the European Capital of Culture, the city of Maribor in Slovenia, and explore how external pressures on the profession will change the way our cities are designed.
Archrival (Ms Claire McCaughan, Ms Lucy Humphrey):
Architects from rival firms come together in a non-corporate space to produce work that would be impossible to create within the confines of a standard architectural practice. Archrival calls into question the obsession with individual authorship in the competitive international market.
Arena Calcetto, will be an informal meeting area in the forecourt of the Australian Pavilion, featuring sculptural Foosball tables, which encourages discussion and engagement between pavilions and challenges international rivalry.
Healthabitat (Mr Paul Pholeros, Mr Stephan Rainow, Mr Paul Torzillo):
An exemplary formation that improves the health and living environment of disadvantaged people through good design. Healthabitat works with Indigenous Australians and internationally in Nepal and Brooklyn, New York, through its World Habitat Award winning Housing for Health program.
Their exhibit will be a touring team consulting local Venetians about ways to improve their homes, educating the public about connections between housing design and health issues.
Richard Goodwin Pty Ltd (Richard Goodwin):
A multi-disciplinary practice committed to advancing the power of urban planning and rethinking our cities via public art and ‘parasitic’ architectural interventions. Central to its work is the notion of adaptive reuse and testing the boundaries between art and architecture.
They will create a water taxi journey around the Giardini, returning back to the Australian Pavilion via a zip line – extending the exhibition beyond the Australian Pavilion and creating new ways of experiencing the Biennale, whilst exploring the potential to create new public and private spaces in Venice.
supermanoeuvre (Mr Dave Pigram, Mr Iain Maxwell, Mr Chris Duffield):
supermanoeuvre widens the physical and conceptual boundaries of architecture through computational design and advanced fabrication, experimentation, collaboration, teaching and research. Operating from Sydney and London, its work spans robotic design, technical and education networks and high-density housing.
They will embark on a complex robotically fabricated sculptural installation, which explores the potential for ‘robot craftsmen’ and new technologies to change the way we design.
The Architects Radio Show (Mr Stuart Harrison, Mr Simon Knott, Ms Christine Philips, Mr Rory Hyde):
Created in 2004, The Architects is a weekly 3RRR (Melbourne) radio program produced collaboratively by academics and directors from various architectural practices. The not-for-profit vehicle is dedicated to discussing international issues in architecture, through conversation that is accessible to a broad public audience.
At the Biennale, they will offer a live roaming radio show, hosted by architects and academics, that will be broadcast for the duration of the Vernissage, discussing international architectural issues.
Check out the U.S. Pavilion’s for their interactive installation, Spontaneous Interventions here on ArchDaily.
