Details on 2014 Venice Biennale Announced

John Hill

17. March 2014

Absorbing Modernity 1914–2014. Image © Rem Koolhaas, courtesy of Venice Biennale

Curator Rem Koolhaas explains Fundamentals and its three interlocking exhibitions.

It's been just over one year since Rem Koolhaas was selected as curator of the 2014 Venice Biennale, and since he formulated Fundamentals as the title of the exhibition. Finally, on March 11 at a press conference in London, Koolhaas expanded on the Biennale's theme and explained its three interlocking exhibitions: Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014, Elements of Architecture and Monditalia.

Elements of Architecture. Image © Rem Koolhaas, courtesy of Venice Biennale

In Koolhaas's words:

“Absorbing Modernity: 1914-2014 is an invitation to the national pavilions to show, each in their own way, the process of the erasure of national characteristics in architecture in favor of the almost universal adoption of a single modern language and a single repertoire of typologies – a more complex process than we typically recognize, involving significant encounters between cultures, technical inventions, and hidden ways of remaining 'national.'

“Elements of Architecture, in the Central Pavilion, will pay close attention to the fundamentals of our buildings, used by any architect, anywhere, anytime: the floor, the wall, the ceiling, the roof, the door, the window, the façade, the balcony, the corridor, the fireplace, the toilet, the stair, the escalator, the elevator, the ramp…

“Monditalia dedicates the Arsenale to a single theme – Italy – with exhibitions, events, and theatrical productions engaging architecture, politics, economics, religion, technology, industry. The other festivals of la Biennale di Venezia – film, dance, theatre, and music – will be mobilized to contribute to a comprehensive portrait of the host country."

Monditalia. Image © Rem Koolhaas, courtesy of Venice Biennale

The Biennale opens to the public on June 7, running until November 23. Given the 18-month lead-time that Koolhaas demanded for his first Biennale (though this was not the first time he was asked), he and Biennale chair Paolo Baratta are hoping that all of the national pavilions will respond to the Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014 theme. This would result in a more unified exhibition than is the norm, where countries have been free to respond or ignore the themes given to them only about six months ahead of the opening date. For the 2014 Biennale 65 countries will be participating, including 11 countries (Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, New Zealand, and Turkey) for the first time.

With Koohaas's role as curator, and the promise of a more unified, research-heavy exhibition, this is the most eagerly anticipated Biennale in recent memory. For sure, World-Architects is looking forward to the exhibition and its collateral events and will be reporting from Venice in early June.