Are humans the only stewards of the built environment? For many architects and planners, spaces are designed with a focus on the needs, comfort, and health of humans. A spatial ordering, in constructed spaces and the urban fabric, designates humans as the default, singular user in this scenario. However, as much as humans have influenced the trajectory of the world, other species play a crucial role in designing, forming, and maintaining the urban landscapes of the twenty-first century.
_preview.jpeg.jpg?1527942180)
As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the completed Australian Pavilion. To read the initial proposal, refer to our previously published post, "Australian Pavilion at 2018 Venice Biennale to Explore Architecture's Relation to Endangered Plants."
The theme for the Australian Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale is Repair. Created by Baracco+Wright Architects in collaboration with Linda Tegg, it consists of a living installation, Grasslands Repair, that presents more than 60 species of Western Plains Grasslands plants from South East Australia. By covering the ground of the pavilion with these plants, it explores the relationship between architecture and the natural environment, especially in regards to the ecologically sensitive landscape of Australia and the cultural importance of the land for the Indigenous people.
Following an open competition, the Australian Institute of Architects have announced "repair" as the theme of the Australian Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. Baracco+Wright Architects, collaborating with artist Linda Tegg, will oversee the cultivation of "thousands of temperate grassland species" within the pavilion, alongside "large-scale architectural projections." According to the AIA, "visitors will enter a physical dialogue between architecture and endangered plant community, reminding us what is at stake when we occupy land."
_preview.jpeg.jpg?1527942158 "© Rory Gardiner")
_preview.jpeg.jpg?1527942168 "© Rory Gardiner")
_preview.jpeg.jpg?1527942212 "© Rory Gardiner")
_preview.jpeg.jpg?1527942202 "© Rory Gardiner")
_preview.jpeg.jpg?1527942180)