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Title:
The Architectural Imagination
Curators:
Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon, in collaboration with the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning
Location:
Pavilion of the United States (Giardini)
The main theme of the exhibition is focused on the city of Detroit and its transition as a post-industrial city. Four sites in the Motorcity have been selected because they represent common challenges modern cities face: the Packard Plant, the Dequindre Cut and Eastern Market district, West Vernor Highway on the southwest end of the city, and the U.S. Postal Service building on Fort Street.
It is now up to 12 teams of architects and designers to develop a new conceptual architectural project for these sites. They have to find an answer on how architecture can re-create urban sites, especially in the context of open space. These models should be helpful to other cities worldwide.
Each Detroit site will have a room in the exhibition, which will consist of 3-D models and drawings and video animation.
The catalogue of the exhibition will be an edition of Log, the magazine of curator Cynthia Davidson. It will describe the 12 projects in detail and give lots of information on Detroit. There will also be free postcards from Detroit available in the pavilion for the Biennale visitors, for which a photo contest is currently being held.
US Post Office site in Detroit selected for the Biennale (© The Architectural Imagination)
More information can be found on the website of The Architectural Imagination. The book ‘Mapping Detroit: Land, Community, and Shaping a City’ with foreword from curator Monica Ponce de Leon tackles the architectural issues of the city of Detroit. The previous editions of Log from curator Cynthia Davidson are also still available.
Review by The Venice Insider
The American pavilion has everything that you expect from an architectural exhibition. The different rooms display nice models, beautiful pictures and lots of information about the selected projects in Detroit. I did learn a lot about these projects of The Architectural Imagination, so, from that perspective, the team did a great job. What I liked the most was the wall with postcards, with pictures taken by the inhabitants of Detroit. This is a nice twist in a touristic city like Venice, where you find postcards on every street corner.
Katia – The Venice Insider
The Dequindre Civic Academy in Detroit
The Packard Plant in Detroit
Architectural Imagination in Detroit
Click here to return to the overview of the other pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 or read my post What to expect from the 2016 Architecture Biennale.
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