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‘Common Ground’

13th International Architecture Biennale, Venice

Ian Were
Eyeline 80
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The two remarkable things about the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale were its adherence to the theme, ‘Common Ground’—at least on the face of it—and the similarity of many presentations to previous art biennales, including Venice.1 Indeed, several artists seen in recent art biennales were conspicuous: Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Ai Wei Wei, Peter Fischli/David Weiss and Thomas Struth, for example; and not so recent contenders, Alberto Giacometti and Hans Josephsohn; as well as several filmmakers including Wim Wenders.

Sticking with a theme was a surprise for one who has only previously seen Venice Art Biennales where it is de rigueur for countries to take great pride in being individualistic, whether in a pavilion in the Giardini or a hired palace elsewhere in the city. Any coherence was only to be found in the Central Pavilion or in the Arsenale’s Corderie, where it is usual for the Biennale director to select the art—although in recent years that work too has been loosely wrapped.

Directed by British architect David Chipperfield, ‘Common Ground’ focused on people: people in cities, suburbs and country; shared ideas and collaborative projects; green economies and ideals; utopian notions of co-operation and the freedom to choose how you live and what you get. Changes that can be made for and by people in order to experience common ground were explored. ‘I invited my colleagues’, said Chipperfield, ‘to examine what we share over what distinguishes us … and in so doing to demonstrate that the quality of architecture depends on common values, efforts and visions’.2

As it happened, most of the exhibiting countries, architects and firms closely followed this invitation, not only in the Arsenale but also in... The rest of this article is available to subscribers of Eyeline

Norman Foster with Ivorypress team, Gateway, 2012. Detail. Mixed media installation, Arsenale. Photograph Ian Were.

Norman Foster with Ivorypress team, Gateway, 2012. Detail. Mixed media installation, Arsenale. Photograph Ian Were.

Unmediated Democracy Demands Unmediated Space, Pulska grupa; addresses the city as a restless field of conflict, installation, Arsenale.

Unmediated Democracy Demands Unmediated Space, Pulska grupa; addresses the city as a restless field of conflict, installation, Arsenale.