Launching the sixth edition of Time Space Existence
As an international organisation committed to promoting culture, the European Cultural Centre (ECC) is pleased to introduce its latest exhibition: Time Space Existence 2023, the sixth edition of its architecture exhibition, a living workshop, a platform for exchange, a show like no other that will open its doors this week.
Photo credits: Federico Vespignani
The 2023 edition of Time Space Existence immerses itself into today’s context. The show stands on the notion that our home, our surroundings, and our planet are under pressure, urging us to work together to explore a sustainable way forward. To this call, a total of 217 projects have found their way to Venice to present from the 20th of May until the 26th of November, 2023, their visions and ideas on the architecture of today, showcasing their thoughts and projects at the historical venues of Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora and the Marinaressa Gardens.
Through the eyes of a diverse group of participants, the show draws attention to the emerging expressions of sustainability in its numerous forms. From a focus on the environment and urban landscape to the unfolding conversations on innovation, reuse, community and inclusion.
In response to climate change, exhibited projects investigate new technologies and construction methods that reduce energy consumption through circular design and develop innovative, organic and recycled building materials. Participants also address social justice by presenting living solutions envisioned for displaced communities and minorities, while others examine the tensions between the built urban environment and the nature surrounding it, identifying opportunities for coexistence and establishing a dialogue with local culture.
With our architecture exhibition we continue the research on the fundamental topics of time, space and existence. We started this project back in 2011 with the idea of bringing together in Venice a group of architects, designers, academics, and creatives working across disciplines, and to promote exchange among different cultures and initiate an engaging dialogue. With this exhibition we hope to provide everyone with the opportunity to discover different voices and perspectives on architecture, while also raising awareness on the fundamental issues in contemporary architecture nowadays.
Rachele De Stefano, Head of Architecture at ECC Italy
Kengo Kuma & Associates, Existence—Sana Mane Sauna Sazae (Kagawa, Japan, 2022)
Introducing the 2023 edition
In honour of the opening of the Time Space Existence exhibition, the European Cultural Centre has organised an opening week marked by several key events.
On the 18th of May, Michelle Delk, Director of Landscape Architecture at Snøhetta, will highlight the main themes of the sixth edition of the exhibition and the studio participation in Venice with an insightful keynote speech at the Marinsaressa Gardens. On this occasion, the ECC Team will introduce the collective group show and its participants as well as this year’s catalogue.
Venice is one of the most beautiful yet vulnerable places on Earth. Counterbalance is interactive and intends to call attention to oft-invisible networks linking us to our environment, while also fostering joy and a positive outlook on working together in harmony. We are thrilled to be part of this exhibit, joining others to heighten collective awareness of the splendour and fragility of Venice and its environs.
Michelle Delk, Director of Landscape Architecture, Snøhetta
In parallel, ECC will host several events across its venues, including an immersive performance, the launch of two unique books, a panel conversation with renowned architecture studies and more. Take a look here to read more and join the events.
Re-envisioning the future
For over six months, an international and eclectic group of architects, designers, artists, academics, and photographers coming from 52 different countries will be present in the heart of Venice to explore our relationship with space and time through different mediums and from diverse perspectives. The combination of expertise and background leads to an exhibition that aims to re-envision new ways of living and rethink architecture in today’s context.
Participants delve deeper into the promising field of digital building technology. With the aim to investigate carbon-free solutions, the University of Stuttgart’s filigree concrete structure demonstrates how lightweight constructions can contribute to the decarbonization of the building industry. In parallel, other studios and research groups introduce new technologically innovative construction techniques and materials that can sustain the cities of tomorrow. ETH Block Research Group, for example, in collaboration with Digital Building Technology, explores on-site prefabrication using by-product material, whereas Princeton University together with SOM use augmented reality to create a self-supporting vault.
Photos by Daria Kovaleva from University of Stuttgart
With a keen eye and dedication, presentations also pay attention to the different expressions of climate emergency. They look at testimonies on migration and climate displacement, and investigate ways to ameliorate the impacts of the current cost of living crisis and address the need for social and spatial justice. The Norman Foster Foundation (NFF) and Holcim present the Essential Homes Research Project, a proposal to provide displaced people safe, comfortable and dignified homes. Designed by the Norman Foster Foundation and built with Holcim sustainable solutions, the project opens the conversation on how to make sustainable building accessible to everyone. Rafi Segal and Susannah Drake examine the existential threat that climate change poses on communities in Miami, studying the legacy of racial segregation in South Florida. To tackle the issue of people displacement due to political reasons or natural disasters, Hariri & Hariri design prefabricated folding POD that are affordable and secure, whereas the Civic Data Design Lab at MIT collaborated with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) to outline interactive visualisations which illustrate critical findings about the root causes of migration.
All of these realities and pressures are shifting how we live and perceive our surroundings. Counterbalance by Snøhetta respons to this observation with a site specific installation at Marinaressa Gardens that establishes a dialogue with the Venetian lagoon and the natural environment that they describe to be at once. Meanwhile, Gerber Architekten demonstrates different attitudes and approaches in dealing with the landscape, making the building a mediator between urban structure and the natural environment.
Hariri & Hariri Architecture, Gisue Hariri, Mojgan Hariri, Chris Whiteside, Kyuhun Kim, Bieinna Ham, Folding Pod in unfolded position
The exhibition shares insightful solutions for a better living, and ignites hope and stimulates an engaging dialogue that is inclusive of all voices. By creating a space for discussion, the ECC introduces installations that celebrate women in architecture and emerging talents from all over the world; while others portray new scenarios for our cities from an artistic stance.
The project Reconceptualizing Urban Housing brings together nine women-led practices from around the globe: Adengo Architecture, Alison Brooks Architects, Dubbeldam Architecture + Design, Eleena Jamil Architect, Fernanda Canales Arquitectura, Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, Mecanoo, Meyer-Grohbruegge, and Studio Gang investigate how urban collective housing can be more liveable and how it can ensure that the design of housing will enhance inhabitants’ wellbeing and quality of life. At the side, Studio Pouisti offers an alternative to conventional models of habitation and dense urban living, proposing a vertical flow between the skyline of the building and its feet.
Time Space Existence not only aims to be a display, but also a living workshop where practitioners working across different disciplines can work together and present their own visions on the status of architecture and the built environment nowadays. By bringing together ideas from all over the world, the exhibition is a platform for exchange and experimentation, and strives to stimulate an engaging dialogue that is inclusive of all voices.
Studio Gang, City Hyde Park, 2016. Photo by Steven Hall
Collateral Event: Mies van der Rohe Awards – EUmies Awards
The European Cultural Centre is honoured to be a partner in Venice of the EUmies Awards - Young Talent 2023. The award aims to support the talent of recently graduated architects, urban planners and landscape architects, who will be responsible for transforming our environment in the future. The results of this year’s edition will be presented as a Collateral Event of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia with an exhibition titled The Laboratory of Education. The show will open on the 20th of May, and run until the 26th of November, 2023 at the European Cultural Centre’s historical venue of Palazzo Mora. An award ceremony and debate will complete the exhibition and will take place on the 29th of June, 2023 at Palazzo Michiel in Venice.
The European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture | Mies van der Rohe Awards (EUmies Awards), founded in 1988 in Barcelona by Fundació Mies van der Rohe and the European Union’s programme to support the cultural and creative sectors, are annual awards recognizing excellence in built works of architecture in Europe (Architecture and Emerging) and final diploma works by recently graduated architects (Young Talent).
The EUmies Awards count on the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) and the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) as key institutional partners and World Architects as strategic partner.
Partners & Collaborations
For the promotion and dissemination of the sixth edition of Time Space Existence, the European Cultural Centre has partnered with international and local media outlets Domus, Dezeen, World Architects, Archdaily and Venezia News. Thanks to the valuable support of these partnerships, the show will reach an audience both abroad and locally, and engage readers to follow the conversations that emerge from the architecture exhibition.