Rome - Venice, 5 May 2008

Francesco Garofalo is the Curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 11th International Architecture Exhibition, to be held from September 14th to November 23rd 2008, directed by Aaron Betsky and organised by La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta.

The Italian Pavilion is promoted by the Ministry for Cultural Affairs and Activities and the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia.

In this time of “real estate bubble” and global instability triggered by the US subprime loans crisis, the theme chosen by Garofalo appears more topical than ever. His proposal is entitled HOUSING ITALY. 12 Projects for Inhabiting and Re-inhabiting the City and is concerned with housing as “the central operative question of Italy’s architectural culture”.

Garofalo explains: “HOUSING ITALY confronts Italian architectural culture with the challenge posed by the request for quality homes at affordable prices. The end of subsidised housing, the crisis in the loans market, the conditions of urban decay and the demands from new users, have brought the question to the forefront in the public debate.

Now that all public authorities are promising to invest in housing, one must ask oneself which programmes and projects must be adopted in order to respond to the demand. Taking a critical look at the revival of ‘a home for all’, the Italian pavilion aims to propose ‘a home for each’.”

The Architects

The architects invited include a mixture of generations and of geographic provenance, assuming that the diversity and wealth in research is more important than possible differences in language. They range from Andrea Branzi (Milan), protagonist of radical architecture in the 1960’s, celebrated furniture designer and innovator of the “habitat” concept, to Baukuh (Genoa), a group of 30-year-olds currently building public housing in Amsterdam, having won a European competition for young architects. The list also includes Studio Albori (Milan), Cliostraat (Turin), Mario Cucinella (Bologna), Luca Emanueli (Reggio Emilia), Ian+ (Rome), Marco Navarra_NOWA (Caltagirone), Italo Rota (Milan), Salottobuono (Venice), Beniamino Servino (Caserta), and Stalker / Osservatorio Nomade (Rome).

The Exhibition

The layout of the two rooms in the Arsenal’s Tese delle Vergini (one elliptical and the other rectangular) is reduced to just three elements. The elliptical hall, inherited from the 2006 exhibition, will present a display of the current situation through photographs, data and video projections. The large rectangular space will be delineated on three sides by a 70-metre-long map with the narrative of the past’s disputed heritage that will serve as backdrop and historic reference for the new projects. The latter will be placed on an archipelago of large platforms, each installed by the invited architect.

The exhibition begins with the current situation: The Poor State of the Art: Portrait of the Building Boom. The data and images presented to the visitors aim to shed light on two aspects: how many houses are being built and for whom. The undertaken survey will highlight where it is possible to build and rebuild, exploiting the under-used holdings of the public city and bringing together the “dwelling” demand of users – that is no longer limited to a simple lodging – and quality projects.

The large map in the rectangular room reveals the different facets of Italian Public Housing’s Controversial Heritage, and its international inspirations. Today, this is a heritage suspended between nostalgic rediscovery and ideological cravings for demolition. The themes explored include the idea of neighbourhood, the superblock, public space, collective facilities, the domestic sphere, shopping and cars, privacy and play, genres and generations.

The architects’ projects will be at the centre of the pavilion. The aim is to provide models and suggestions; food for thought for institutions and patrons. A Home for Each - 12 Projects will present exemplary designs, such as those for the reorganisation of social housing estates in Rome and other cities, proposals for residential conversion of industrial areas and for settling specific foreign communities immigrating to Italy.