Italy Pavilion Venice Biennale 2021 Event, Tempodacqua, Italian Architecture Design Exhibition

Italy Pavilion Venice Biennale 2021 News

1 June 2021

La Biennale di Venezia 2021 – Italian Pavilion

The Italian Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition

Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia presents the research “Tempodacqua”.

Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia, the international architecture and design studio, developed the research “Tempodacqua” research, as an implementation of the relationship between water and architecture.

Presented at the third edition of the Pisa Architecture Biennale in 2019, the “Tempodacqua” research, enriched with content and authoritative testimonies, is proposed in the context of the Italian Pavilion “Resilient Communities”, curated by Alessandro Melis, with an exhibition to be held from next July 13th to 18th.

Ceramic model by Adrar Danilo Trogu:

photo © S.Anzini

“Tempodacqua” is a cultural project of international scope that interprets climate change through its main sentinel – the water -, analyzing the different geographical situations and identifying possible approaches focused on the specific peculiarities of the territories and on the grafting of a responsible and aware architecture.

The project moves away from the mainstream of climate change and undertakes the commitment to create a true relationship of meanings between water and architecture, capable of involving broad social models and trajectories: health, education, urbanism, work. Territorial instability and fragility are accepted as proactive elements of the project and not as obstacles to be overcome.

Modello ceramica Adrar Danilo Trogu:

photo © S.Anzini

Water is the only matter that tangibly defines the climate crisis and it is the only one that can be concretely translated into project action. Making the different aspects of climate change converge on water does not mean starting from the consequence, but taking a different point of view that combines emergency, urgency and territorial and urban planning.

It is a political, cultural, strategic, responsibility issue, above all about the future that belongs to all cultures and all geographies and that “obliges science to dialogue” with governments and men. In this scenario, architecture can and must be the instrument of dialogue and the grounding of thought.

Archisable by Tina Bloch Dassault / Alfonso Femia:

photo © Michel Denancé

“The theme of the 2021 Biennale and that of the Italian Pavilion are further confirmations and stimuli to enrich and continue the research on water as a design subject. Not surprisingly, in this edition of the Biennale there is a great presence of the countries of the South of the world, widely represented by Africa, Asia, Latin America, which live a relationship with water that is as passionate as it is vigilant and restless“ so Alfonso Femia who continues “the goal of our work is to empower the design community, but also to raise the awareness of all people on the importance of architecture in the process of interaction with territories and the environment “.

Tempodacqua frame

photo © AF517_Diorama

Expressive and artistic synthesis of “Tempodacqua” is a trilogy of videos that will be presented at the Arena of the Italian Pavilion, in the context of the homonymous exhibition curated by Atelier (s) Alfonso Femia, from July 13th to 18th. The videos, concepts by Alfonso Femia, made by Diorama, interpret the theme of memory that changes and frees itself from its temporal immobility, in a path that water transforms and expands towards the future. The first “The Moon Codex” won the prize on the international category “Best experimental short film” at the Cosmo Film Festival; The Moon Codex and Tempodacqua took second place at the Rome Prisma Independent Film Awards. The third video is unpublished for the 2021 Venice Biennale.

The focus of the exhibition is expressed in an architectural review on the themes of water – infrastructure, waterfronts, parks and urban green spaces, hydro-geological experiments – and in a video library that collects the dialogues between Alfonso Femia and authoritative protagonists of international architecture: Didier Faustino, Jacques Rougerie, Rudy Ricciotti, Stefano Boeri, Andrea Boschetti, Clément Willemin, Frédéric Chartier, Pascale Dalix, Vincent Parreira, Fabrizio Plessi, Tina Dassault, Ico Migliore.

On July 13th, in two moments of live debate, water will be at the center of the analyzes of a panel of expert respondents on project design and management aspects. Among these, Arianna Azzellino of Polytechnic of Milan, Benedetta Brioschi of The European House-Ambrosetti, Andreas Kipar of Land studio; Andrea Rucksthul of Lend Lease, Clement Willemin.

At the Biennale will be presented the book “Tempodacqua”, which summarizes the contents of the research into six actions: Begin, Explain, Respect, Watch, Manage, Design. Each word contains the message of resilience as an interpretative code of architecture for water. The project narration takes place through interviews with Petra Blaisse, Andrea Kipar, Michelangelo Pugliese, Franco Zagari and with the contributions of Arianna Azzellino, Emanuele Bompan, Benedetta Brioschi, Laura Pavia, Andrea Ruckstuhl, Emanuele Sommariva.

Finally, in the catalog of the Italian Pavilion, a paper by Alfonso Femia is included, which investigates the relationships between “territory, water, peripheries”, interpreted in specific correspondences with “resilience, solution, resource”.

BIENNALE VENEZIA 2021
17. INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION
ITALY PAVILION: TEMPODACQUA
ATELIER(S) ALFONSO FEMIA
From July 13th to 18th 2021
LIVE DEBATES: TUESDAY, JULY 13th, 11.30 – 15.00

Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia is an international architecture firm based in Genoa, Milan and Paris. The experience gained in more than 25 years of activity, developed at all scales of intervention, is reflected in the depth of approach to the most sensitive themes of the city and the territory. The studio embraces all fields of design, from residences to offices, to retail, to masterplans, to urban regeneration with an avant-garde vision for environmental aspects.

Over the years, Atelier (s) Femia has developed cultural projects parallel to professional activity. In addition to Tempodacqua, also Mediterranei Invisibili; 500 × 100; Scuola Social Impact, Right to Matter. Alfonso Femia is the author of numerous books, among the most recent, La Bonne Ville, written in collaboration with Paul Ardenne.

Italy Pavilion Venice Biennale 2021 images / information received 310521

1 June 2021
Italian Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition
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photo courtesy of Emilio Ambasz & associates
Italian Pavilion Venice Biennale 2021

Location: Giardini della Biennale, Venezia, Italia

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