One of Martino's recommendations was to visit the architecture biennale happening in Venice while we were there, called OUT THERE-Architecture Beyond Building. Set in the gardens at the bottom of the Venice, almost every country in the world was represented by their own pavilion (no-not ugly plastic tents but architect designed, almost permanent, freestanding buildings) to showcase concepts of future architecture, without being restricted to the idea of a building- much like haute-couture isn't really wearable on the street, the designs were imaginative and not constrained to the idea of actual buildings, but what a space could be if the architect were to think 'beyond building'. It was creatively unrestrained and almost overwhelming to see so many ideas and models trying to outdo one another in such a historical setting. The exhibition continued in the Arsanale area, an old military yard, where some of the bigger names like Zaha Hadid and Gehry architects were given room for large scale installations to show what they thought was going to happen next in architecture. We took loads of photos but here are just a few....!
Chile pavilion
British pavilion
Me walking through part of the Italian pavilion
Conceptual illustrations in the Arsenale
Me amidst Zaha Hadid's installation
My favourite model in the Australian pavillion
The exterior of the Japanese pavillion which was a white space covered in delicate pencil illustrations and filled with botanical arrangements.
