Open

The Russian Federation Pavilion Open has received a Special Mention as National Participation by the International Jury of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition at the awards ceremony that took place in Venice on the 30th of August.

The International Jury, composed of Kazuyo Sejima - President (Japan), Sandra Barclay (Peru), Lamia Joreige (Lebanon), Lesley Lokko (Ghana-Scotland) and Luca Molinari (Italy), praised Open for “a sensitive and careful architectural renovation of a historical pavilion at the Giardini that opens it to its immediate surroundings and to the future”.

With Open, the Russian Federation Pavilion launched the reconstruction of both its architectural and institutional structures across the physical and digital realms. It features an architectural renovation of the pavilion building by KASA (Kovaleva and Sato Architects), research into the social role of video games and digital environments, and the publication of the essay series Voices (Towards Other Institutions), through which it searches for answers to the question posed by the curator of the 17th Architectural Biennale Hashim Sarkis: How Will We Live Together?

The 2021 Russian Pavilion is commissioned by Teresa Iarocci Mavica, director of the V-A-C Foundation; curated by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli in collaboration with curator’s team (Erica Petrillo, Giacomo Ardesio, Vladimir Nadein, Liza Dorrer, and Dasha Nasonova); and managed by Anastasia Karneeva of Smart Art.