We live in exceptional times. The way we relate to our surroundings has changed exponentially in the last decade, and especially in this last year. The volatility and pace of today’s world have taken up a new level, redefining the environments we live in and the wellbeing of the people who inhabit these. To this occasion and context, the European Cultural Centre (ECC) organized their fifth edition of the extensive biennial architecture exhibition Time Space Existence around this pressing moment, inviting international experts, artists, and the public at large to reflect on the issues of our time and on how to improve the human condition sustainably. Today, six months later, we close this unique edition and tip our hats to a truly diverse and enlightening experience.
Last Sunday 21 November, the European Cultural Centre hosted the closing event of Time Space Existence, which ran between 22 May and 21 November, 2021, at the historical locations of Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora and Giardini della Marinaressa in Venice, Italy. The exhibition welcomed a total of 212 architects, artists, academics, and creative professionals from over 51 countries who showcased projects exploring topics such as green cities, water urbanism, green energy, design, and architecture for the wellbeing, among many others. In all venues, visitors could walk through the exhibition learning from cases that went from Peru, Mexico and the United States all the way to Japan, Taiwan and passing through many European countries.
Time Space Existence Closing Event at Palazzo Mora. Photo credits: Clelia Cadamuro
In the course of Time Space Existence, the ECC also hosted 63 side events like the recent Shaping the City Forum which invited urbanists and architects to engage in conversations about sustainable cities and communities and exchange best practices, and the 3rd Conference on Photography and Education Ethical shifts in photography organized by Blurring the Lines in collaboration with Paris College of Art and Urbnautica Institute, aimed at exploring the meaning and the possible future developments of photography and image-making in tracing and understanding where visual culture is moving nowadays.
Simultaneously, ECC Italy strengthened its international collaborations by hosting two Collateral Events of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia: the Young Talent Architecture Award (YTTA) organized by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe with the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, and the National Pavilion of Pakistan titled “Mapping Festivities”.
A hybrid experience
Despite being launched a year later than originally planned, in the past six months, Time Space Existence reached over 420.300 users on social media, nearly 150.750 viewers online, and was experienced in-person by approximately 300.200 visitors. Additionally, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the majority of events and activities organized by ECC Italy were live-streamed on their social media channels, allowing architecture aficionados to connect from all over the world while also experiencing the exhibition through immersive virtual tours, available here. Time Space Existence was internationally covered by well-known media outlets such as Domus, World Architects, Wallpaper*, ArchDaily, and Architectural Digest.
Rachele De Stefano, Head of Architecture at ECC Italy, stated:
«As we all know, this exhibition was planned to open in 2020 and it had to be postponed to this year due to the global pandemic. It was thanks to all members of the ECC team and all participants who worked tirelessly during this exceptional year, that our exhibition achieved incredible results.»
The highlights of 2021
Having the opportunity to engage in deep conversations and connect with like-minded people and organizations is what Time Space Existence aimed for. To commemorate the interesting outcomes that derived from the exhibition and to continue the discussion, the ECC presented N-D Narrative Dimension. Launched during the closing event, this book is a 300 limited edition by Urbanautica Institute that collects the work of 22 international photographers and their take on architecture, represented from the classical portrait of buildings to more innovative approaches, including street photography, abstract images and experimental works.
Elena Volpato, Suzanne van der Borg, Katerina Zachou, and Miguel Núñez Jiménez present N-D Narrative Dimension during the Time Space Existence Closing Event at Palazzo Mora. Photo credits: Clelia Cadamuro
During the closing event, the book launch was followed by the announcement of the winners and special mentions of this year’s ECC Awards, which were carefully selected by the European Cultural Centre curatorial team and cultural mediators upon feedback from visitors. The winners received the unique award of an artwork by Dutch artist René Rietmeyer, initiator of the project Personal Structures and of the European Cultural Centre itself.
In the category of Art Installation, the award was granted to David Jacobson for his creation Earth Lung and the two special mentions went for Sofia Verzbolovskis and Karen McCoy.
Vittoria Mastrolilli, Bianca Bonaldi, Elena Volpato, and Rachele De Stefano present the ECC Awards. David Jacobson is awarded for the Art Installation category. Photo credits: Clelia Cadamuro
This recognition was followed by the category of University Project, with this year being awarded to the Technical University of Darmstadt for their installation Building with paper exhibited at Palazzo Mora, and the two special mentions for Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú & University College London and Watershed Urbanism curated by Adrian Parr, Dean of Design at the University of Oregon and UNESCO Water Chair, in collaboration with University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).
As for Architecture, NANO Architecture | Interiors received the award for their project Submerged Experience; and the special mentions went to Henriquez Partners Architects, Lucila Aguilar Arquitectos and Mahl Gebhard Konzepte (MGK);
And last but not least, in Design Innovation, the ECC awarded the Block Research Group (BRG) at ETH Zurich and Zaha Hadid Architects – Computation and Design Group (ZHCODE) with Incremental 3D and Holcim for their creation of Striatus currently still at Giardini della Marinaressa, and the special mentions for the bioDigital matter lab at Lund University and LOVE architecture and urbanism.
Suzanne van der Borg announces the special mention in the category of Architecture for Mahl Gebhard Konzepte. Photo Credits: Clelia Cadamuro
The exhibition will carry on and will be amplified in other contexts, including events happening in Miami, USA, which will involve participants from other Time Space Existence editions such as American architect Scott Brown, which will be on until 30 January, 2022. As for the third edition of Shaping the City, this will be hosted in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center on 10 December 2021, in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) and with the special opening speech by David Brown, artistic director of CAB.
The European Cultural Centre appreciates the huge support received from their international and local media partners: Domus, World Architects, and Venezia News, and is immensely grateful to all those who made it possible and followed Time Space Existence from anywhere, from beginning to end including the ECC team, all the participants and visitors.