an exhibition that investigates the paradoxical state of a public space that is not publicly accessible, through a series of site-specific interventions aimed at sparking discussion about the Giardini della Biennale's current and future uses
At the last Venice Architecture Biennale, the Unfolding Pavilion proposed unlocking the Giardini, a public land granted to the Biennale, and investigated the paradoxical state of a public space that is not publicly accessible. The fourth Unfolding Pavilion, a pop-up exhibition concept inspired by the space it occupies on each occasion, opened on the 19th of May 2023 in the setting of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale’s vernissage. Titled Open Giardini the exhibition was dedicated to the Giardini della Biennale: a public park which since 1895, with the opening of the first International Art Exhibition, has been extensively fenced off and given to the Biennale, removing it from public use. The Giardini della Biennale, nonetheless, are not private property: they are located on public land that the City of Venezia freely grants to the Biennale in exchange for upkeep and security. This is a clear case of private expropriation of public territory by an institution that has colonized Venezia for the last 100 years. Reacting to this situation, Open Giardini investigated the paradoxical state of a public space that is not publicly accessible, through a series of site-specific interventions aimed at sparking discussion about the Giardini della Biennale’s current and future uses.
The fourth Unfolding Pavilion, a pop-up exhibition concept inspired by the space it occupies on each occasion, opened on May 19, 2023 in the setting of the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale's vernissage. Following its previous editions on Ignazio Gardella’s Casa alle Zattere, Gino Valle’s Giudecca Social Housing, and the lost replica of John Hejduk’s House for the Inhabitant Who Refused to Participate, #OPENGIARDINI was dedicated to the Giardini della Biennale: the Venetian site featuring the highest concentration of modern architecture, with buildings by Alvar Aalto, Josef Hoffmann, Gerrit Rietveld, Carlo Scarpa, James Stirling, Sverre Fehn and more. The pavilion, curated by Daniel Tudor Munteanu and Davide Tommaso Ferrando, only lasted for a short but intense period of time.
The portal to resemble a ceremonial doorway. Beyond the portal, three ladders installed to mediate the height differences led to a long red carpet that accompanied the walk to a rusty spiked fence. Red tape was applied to cover the rust, puffy clown noses were glued to the spikes, and a soft grip was installed where the boatmen hung to swing around the barrier. The red carpet extended all the way across the fence to the first docking stations
Daniel Tudor Munteanu, Davide Tommaso Ferrando
Alessandro Mason, Davide Tommaso Ferrando, Lucas Geiger.
Michele Galluzzo
Laurian Ghinițoiu
Venice Architecture Biennale 2023