While 2016's Golden Lion-winning project 'The Unfinished' surveyed architecture after the construction crisis, this year's Spanish pavilion will explore architecture's future through the eyes of researchers.
The 'becoming,' an exhibition curated by Spanish architect Atxu Amann, opens its doors to the works and productions of architecture students developed between 2012 and 2017. According to the curators, "becoming makes an allusion to a vector of the future, with a common educational background in the 'EscuelaS,' which extends to other learning experiences in space and time, in dialogue with other disciplines."
Starting from a series of 55 adjectives that rate the proposed architecture in the open competition, "becoming" accommodates heterogeneous proposals and reflections on architecture and revindicates learning environments as a space for architectural creation and criticism.
"Among the eclectic selection inside the pavilion you will see proposals that critically review the past, others that redefine everyday spaces of the present, and those that imagine a future based on sustainability, well-being and social justice, as well as visions that fuse the real world and the virtual one," they explained.
In turn, the team behind "becoming" sent specific invitations within the framework of the Biennial: the first invited architecture students from Spain to present a transformation project of the exterior perimeter space of the Spanish pavilion in Venice. The winning intervention can be seen during the biennial and hopes to remain in the pavilion once the festival ends.
The second accepted proposal will reoccupy the rear space of the pavilion. The space, which was traditionally used for storage, will now become the main exit of the exhibition. The curtain installation will reflect the concepts that have inspired the show.
Additionally, the Spanish, Belgian, and Dutch pavilions announced an open call called "Out of the Box." This proposal seeks to occupy the outdoor space between the three pavilions. The winner, selected over 100 submissions, was the Europa installation, created by Belgian students proposing to erase the divisions between the countries and their pavilions.
The exhibition at the Venice Biennale will remain open from May 26 to November 25, 2018.
Curator: Atxu Amann Alcocer
Assistant Curator: María Mallo, Gonzalo Pardo, Andrés Cánovas, Nicolás Maruri
