Alejandro Aravena's proposal for the Architecture Biennale 2016, "Reporting from the front”, invites each country to share experiences and moments of crisis that architecture has experienced in recent years. The proposal calls for a reflection on the mistakes in order to share solutions that may allow other countries to anticipate and avoid similar situations.
During the last period of economic growth in Spain, construction became the main driving force of the economy. Today, reality reveals us the built presence and the unfinished remains of what once was the largest edificatory enterprise in Spanish history, leaving behind a difficult situation in which to deal with partially constructed large volumes which are not consolidated.
Under the title "Unfinished", the exhibition in the Spanish Pavilion for the Venice Biennale 2016 draws attention to these unfinished architectures in order to discover virtues that can become design strategies. Robert Venturi, referring to the Farnsworth House, points out how architects are highly selective in determining those problems they want to solve often giving up solving others.
"Unfinished" wants to be a reflection on the architectures born out of the resignation to respond to certain aspects. In order to do so, the exhibition will promote creative speculation about how to subvert the past condition into a positive contemporary action.
The Spanish Pavilion for the Biennale of Venice aims to collect as many examples of architecture as possible that respond to this theme. The works must fit in one of the following categories:
INFILL without facade
ELEVATIONS without land
CONSOLIDATE without autonomy
PATTERNS without deadlines
STRUCTURES without cladding
DEMOLITIONS without material
GENERIC without program
ADAPTABLE without permanences
REAPROPRIATION without new space
RAW MATERIAL without finishing
COST without money
COLLABORATIVE without authorship
REGULATIONS without regulations
Call for Projects Goal
The purpose of this call for projects is the selection of architecture built in the Spanish territory for its exhibition in the Spanish Pavilion of the Biennale of Venice 2016. The works must follow and fit into one of the categories mentioned above.
Conditions of Participation
The participant must hold the Spanish nationality and the work submitted must be built in Spanish territory. Architects may submit completed work since 2006 included.
Selection Process
The candidacies will be analyzed by the pavilion curators, Carlos Quintans and Iñaqui Carnicero. After reviewing the submissions, the curators will select the works that will become part of the exhibition which will take place between May and October 2016; only the selected candidates will be notified. Once this process is over, the selected architects will be asked to send additional material for the realization of the exhibition and the corresponding catalog.
All material submitted must be free of copyright costs.
Documents, Deadline and Submission of Entries
The submission will consist in a .pdf file. The document must clearly state in the first page the category, name, and location of the work, author/s and year of completion. The submission must include a brief written report justifying the work’s inclusion in one of the categories as well as drawings and enough images to understand the project. Candidates may include pictures of the model, if existing, and must indicate its availability.
An announcement of the selected work will be sent only to the selected candidates no later than ten days after the deadline.
The selected authors will be asked to submit the following information:
Graphic Documents
- At least one representative floor plan and section of the project in a .pdf file.
Each document will be in independent files named 01_project title_floor plan.pdf and 02_project title_section.pdf.
- One axonometric view or a sequence of axonometric views (axis x-y@45º and a maximum of 3) of the intervention in .pdf format. These axonometric views will be drawn in two colors: black & white, i.e. gray scales will not be allowed. The file will be named 03_project title_axonometric.pdf
- At least 5 representative photographs of the project with sufficient quality for publishing (300ppp) in .tif format. The file names will be 04_project title_picture1-5.tif consecutively.
- Picture of the model, if existing, indicating its availability.
Technical Description (06_project title_technical file.doc)
- Complete name of the work.
- Location of the project (city, street, number).
- Date of design process and completion of construction.
- Name of author/s of the project.
- Complete contact information of the author/s (address, postal code, telephone, mobile number, email, and website)
- Collaborators (architects, engineers, quantity surveyor).
- Developer / Owner / Construction Company.
- Total budget.
- Surface area and constructed volume.
- Photo credits.
- Written authorization of free transfer of this information for later publication.
All documents (graphic + technical description) will be sent in one single compressed file which name will be author_project title.zip/rar or any other compatible compressed file.
The deadline for the submission will be 9th February 2016 before 23:59. Submissions after this date and hour will not be taken into account. Submissions must be sent to the following email: bienaldevenecia2016@gmail.com.
Submitting a proposal for this call for projects implies full acceptance of this terms and conditions.
Title
Call for Projects: Spanish Pavilion at 2016 Venice BiennaleType
Call for SubmissionsWebsite
Submission Deadline
February 09, 2016 11:59 PM