Venice, 11th September 2008

The work of the jury responsible for choosing the winners of the Everyville 2008 online competition, organised by the Biennale di Venezia with Gruppo Telecom Italia, on the occasion of the 11th International Architecture Exhibition, Out there: Architecture Beyond Building (14 September – 23 November 2008) was concluded on 15 August 2008.

The international jury, chaired by the President of the Biennale, Paolo Baratta, and comprising Aaron Betsky, Francesco Delogu, Zaha Hadid, Thom Mayne, Wolf Prix, Flavio Albanese and Luigi Centola, has selected ten winning projects and 40 honourable mentions from the 782 projects submitted from 48 countries around the world, in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania. Following Italy (381), the countries with the most participants were the United States (68), Brazil (31), Germany and the United Kingdom (both 24).

The official announcement of the winners and the official awards ceremony of the 50 selected groups took place at the Teatro Piccolo in the Arsenale, Venice, at 1 p.m. on 11th September, during the vernissage of the 11th International Architecture Exhibition and in the presence of the curator, Aaron Betsky, and the President, Paolo Baratta.

The winners will receive the diplomas and certificates of merit, and will have their projects reproduced and displayed in a preview section dedicated to the competition within the exhibition itself at the Artiglierie dell’Arsenale. Moreover, all the participants’ projects will be published on the website www.everyville.labiennale.org .

In the text setting out the guidelines for the contest, Aaron Betsky described a city that was imaginary and yet at the same time real – Everyville – and he observed it in the future. The students were invited to reflect upon the constitution of a sense of community that went beyond the physical space, and imagine an architectural system able to create a sense of belonging. Through the contents and methods of their experimental and innovative architecture, they were asked to express themselves on the concepts linked to technology and communication. The proposals invited for the contest could be eccentric and even utopian, and were to develop an idea/project regarding the appearance of Everyville in ten years’ time.

Everyville 2008 is a project made possible by the collaboration between the Biennale di Venezia and Gruppo Telecom Italia, which made available the most innovative technology for the realisation of the competition via the www.everyville.labiennale.org website and for the display of the 782 projects. Software powered by newitalianblood.com and MACE. In collaboration with Domus and Foscarini.