Venice Architecture Biennale Hong Kong Pavilion 2018, Design Exhibition in Italy
Hong Kong Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2018
HK Architecture Exhibition in Italy – cultural protagonism: Curators, Dates, News
23 May 2018
La Biennale di Venezia Pavilion of Hong Kong 2018
Hong Kong Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition
Fernando Menis at the Venice Biennale, invited by the Hong Kong Pavilion
• Under the motto Freespace, architecture takes back cultural protagonism
On May 26 through November 25, a new edition of the world famous Venice Architecture Biennale opens its doors.
Under the motto Freespace, curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara (Grafton Architects) say that “everyone has the right to benefit from architecture, the role of architecture is to give shelter to our bodies, but also to raise our spirits. A beautiful wall, which forms the edge of a street pleases the pedestrian, even if she never crosses the portal ”
photograph © Menis Arquitectos
Hong Kong participates in the collateral events section of the Biennial, with a proposal curated by Weijen Wang with Thomas Tsung, Thomas Chung and Grace Cheng. Titled Vertical Fabric: Density in Landscape, the exhibition shows Hong Kong’s ability to make city density and explores the freespace, the free space between the towers.
The curators invited 100 Hong Kong and international architects to propose and design towers in free space, thus provoking intensive reflection and research on this typology. They were given white, 2.0 meters high models of skyscrapers as a starting point to redefine the spatial potential through their design while maintaining the envelope as a collective urban form.
The exhibition seeks innovation within the limitations by generating extraordinary spaces from the ordinary.
Fernando Menis was invited by the Asian city to design 4 of these 100 towers and with them, this Spanish architect delves into a research initiated a few years ago with Hatching that is a concept for a new type of ideal city.
It is a machine to produce life in extreme climatology with zero energy cost, an architectural structure able to originate life by harvesting water from winds and clouds and by using exclusively natural energy and manipulation of forms. In the context of Hong Kong, climatic and geographical conditions are not radical yet the challenge lies in responding to the people needs at all times by developing a sustainable urban environment able to evolve.
Fernando Menis’s towers connect different urban forms to produce new densities, which take advantage of the forces of nature to be energetically self-sufficient. Fernando Menis explains the project intentions: “Cities demand a balance between people and nature, which could play a vital role in the configuration of cities if we are able to create a space in constant evolution, capable of adequate response to the changing needs of people and respecting our planet.”
This is the tenth time this Spanish architect participates in the Venice Biennial: In other occasions he was a guest architect in the main section or in the Pavilion of Spain, Germany, Taiwan Morocco. His participation has the support of the Canary Islands Government within the Canarias Crea Program.
The team in charge of the production and assembly of Menis’ proposal is formed by Romén Rivero, Jesús Montejano (assembly), Julia Zazada, Raúl Rivero, Babak Asadi (production).
Pavilion of Hong Kong at Venice Biennale 2018 Facts:
Venue: Arsenale, Castello 2126 (Campo della Tana), Venice
Dates: 26 Mayo – 25 Noviembre 2018
Curators: Weijeng Wang (Chief Curator), Thomas Chung, Thomas Tsung (Co-curator), Grace Cheng (Managing Curator)
Organizers: The Hong Kong Institute of Architects – Biennale Foundation, Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Menis’ team for the pavilion: Romén Rivero, Jesús Montejano (assembly), Julia Zazada, Raúl Rivero, Babak Asadi (production).
Links:
_Web Biennale:
http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2018/collateral-events
_Web Hong Kong Arts Development Council:
http://www.hkadc.org.hk/?p=22467&lang=en
_Web Menis Arquitectos:
www.menis.es
Location: Giardini della Biennale, Castello 1260, 30122 Venezia, Italia
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