Belgians at Biennale Architettura 2021

Luc Deleu & T.O.P. office - Central Pavilion

ARCHITECTURAL WORLDS

Hashim Sarkis, the curator of this edition of the Biennale, chose 'How Will We Live Together?' as the overarching theme.

He himself answers this question in the exhibition Architectural Worlds, which can be visited in the Central Pavilion in Giardini.

Architectural Worlds shows architectural practices that start from a global perspective. The practices chosen show how architecture on a global scale can be able to imagine and explore social, technological, and spatial changes and how to deal with them, long before these changes actually take place.

Luc Deleu & T.O.P. office is represented in the historical overview with three projects.

Jan Boelen - Paviljoen van Litouwen

The Lithuanian Space Agency (LSA) is thrilled to present the Pavilion of Lithuania at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. In the unique setting of the Renaissance church Santa Maria dei Derelitti, the LSA proposes a fictional outer space world that brings together gravitational aesthetics and cosmic imagination. The LSA’s exhibition in Venice is curated by Jan Boelen, commissioned by Julija Reklaitė and organised by Rupert, Centre for Art and Education.

Studio SNCDA - Paviljoen van Luxemburg

The project for the Luxembourg pavilion at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale will be led jointly by LUCA and the architect Sara Noel Costa de Araujo (Studio SNCDA), surrounded by a multidisciplinary team that will occupy the the Arsenale space from May.

Responding to the general theme of this 17th Biennale, ‘How will we live together?’, chosen by the curator Hashim Sarkis, the Luxembourg pavilion showcases a modular installation designed by Sara Noel Costa de Araujo in the Arsenales ‘Sale d’Armi’. This installation comprises several spaces of a different nature, including a space dedicated to the modular habitat and others to the exhibition, with artistic collaborations planned with Koenraad Dedobbeleer, Ester Goris and Arnaud Hendrickx who will work on site. Because this project also includes a programme of curatorial residencies initiated by LUCA.

Traumnovelle - Paviljoen van Polen

The Trouble in Paradise exhibition in the Polish Pavilion treats the countryside as an independent area of research and seeks within it answers to the main theme of this year’s Biennale Architettura 2021 in Venice: How will we live together?. Exhibition curators, PROLOG +1 collective, in collaborationwith an international group of architects and artists, will show that in times of growing local andglobal crises, rural areas are an important element of building sustainable human environments. On May 22nd, the opening day of the exhibition, a digital version of the project will launch online at labiennale.art.pl.

The exhibition in the Polish Pavilion is organised by Zachęta — National Gallery of Art in Warsaw. Trouble in Paradise is a multifaceted story about the future of communal life in the countryside.That is where the authors of the exhibition see the potential for discussion on what is common —going beyond the division into the public and the private. Reflections on the marginalised issue oflarge rural areas and the progressive migration from cities to these areas became an impulse for thecreation of speculative visions by the architectural teams from Europe invited to the project. Among them, TRAUMNOVELLE that presents the project EURECA.

Notan Office - ECC European Cultural Centre

This young Brussels architecture firm will present two built projects: LINCOLN in Brussels and LE13EME in Beirut. Both projects involved roof extensions of apartments and are also alike in the fluidity of space that is articulated by a functional core. While the two projects share a similar philosophy the finished constructions are strikingly different.

In presenting these two projects at the exhibition, NOTAN OFFICE seeks to emphasize the influence of context and the chosen construction methods. The key role of the artist in creating an authentic, unique and contemporary end product.

The two projects exemplify one of the recurring issues in architecture – the search for harmony between “the controllable and the unexpected”.

In collaboration with the artist / photographer NICOLAS DELAROCHE, who shares the same obsession with improbability as an additional spacial and material feature, images of the projects will be printed on ceramic, using a specialist technique mastered by the artist. This is a raw representation that intensifies NOTAN OFFICE’s ambition to always leave space for the unexpected.

CRU! Architecten - ECC European Cultural Centre

TIME SPACE EXISTENCE features completed and ongoing projects, innovative proposals, and utopian dreams of architectural expressions. Through a wide selection of projects ranging from conceptual works, models, photographs, videos, sculptures, to site specific installations, each room will provide visitors information and inspiration on our surroundings.

By bringing together a diverse group of participants working across disciplines, the European Cultural Centre aims at stimulating an exchange among architects, universities, legendary masters, emerging studios, established global practices, designers, artists, photographers, developers, engineering companies, who together can have a crucial role in shaping the future of our living.

Office Kersten Geers David Van Severen en Bas Smets - Pavilion of Bahrein

Centres for Traditional Music, along with Pearl Path, in collaboration with Bureau Bas Smets, is featured in the exhibition titled In Muharraq in the Bahrain pavilion, curated by Noura Al Sayeh and Ghassan Chemali. The projects included in the Bahrain pavilion were part of Revitalisation of Muharraq, the winner of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2019.

Composite Presence - Belgian pavilion

The Flanders Architecture Institute is commissioner of Composite Presence, the Belgian contribution to the Biennale Architettura 2021 in Venice. The exhibition, curated by Bovenbouw Architectuur, shows a model landscape representing the friction between city and architecture in Flanders.

Tom Avermaete - Austrian Pavilion

'Urban Labour and Platform Urbanism' by Tom Avaermaete on PLATFORM AUSTRIA. The Belgian Professor for History and Theory of Urban Design Tom Avermaete (ETH Zurich) is one of the more than 50 national and international experts, invited by curators Peter Mörtenböck and Helge Mooshammer, to produce images and texts, short videos and podcasts for presentation in the Austrian pavilion and on the respective website. These contributions deal with questions of who participates in platform urbanism and in what way, and of the alternative paths we could take with digital platforms in order to make life in the city fairer.

On 28.08.2021 Tom Avermaete will be guest at Midissage Talks during the panel discussion ACCESS IS THE NEW CAPITAL: HOW DID WE GET HERE, AND WHAT'S NEXT? Other panellists are Mona Mahall (HCU Hamburg), Asli Serbest (HFK Bremen) and Peter Lang (Rome).

Moderator: Peter Mörtenböck. The panel discussion will take place from 1pm to 2pm in the Austrian Pavilion, Giardini della Biennale, Venice.