British Council Announces Call For Participation in Ambitious Venice 2012 Project
07 December 2011
Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture
The British Council today announced that the British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale will be the culmination of an ambitious global research project designed to make an original and far-reaching contribution to the debate about architecture in the UK.
The Pavilion will provide an injection of new ideas based on the collective research of architects, students, writers, critics and academics. The research will focus on what - and who - makes great architecture; considering issues such as construction, housing, planning, culture, education, procurement, architectural competitions and the role of the client.
On 10 January 2012 an open call for participation and proposals will be launched; and a series of discussions about the brief will be held across the UK aimed at involving a wide-range of contributors. In March the best proposals will be selected and around ten individuals or teams will travel to unearth case studies in locations around the world.
Each ‘Explorer’ will conduct interviews and uncover how, and why something works. Explorers will be tasked with bringing back material including film, photography, writing and drawing. The exhibition will tell their stories and make a series of proposals for changing British architecture.
Venice Takeaway will build on the UK’s history of looking to the rest of the world for inspiration and ideas. Trade voyages shaped the modern world; not only filling museums, botanical gardens and markets but also changing the way we think and introducing ideas that have become part of our culture. Today the flow of ideas is made possible by the travels of architects and by overseas students who come to the UK to study, and often stay to establish their own design studios or to work for British practices.
By discovering the best ideas from around the world it is hoped that the British Pavilion will make an original contribution to the debate about architecture in the UK and influence the future direction of policy and practice at a moment of flux.
Venice Takeaway is curated by Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design, Fashion at the British Council and Vanessa Norwood, Head of Exhibitions at the Architectural Association.
Vicky Richardson says: ‘We have many good designers in the UK, but the systems and structures surrounding architecture need change. Everyone who has travelled will recognise the feeling of envy when you see a good idea. The British Pavilion aims to gather the best of these and bring them back to the UK.’
For enquiries from UK national & international media, contact:
Alex Bratt
+44 (0) 207 389 4872
alex.bratt@britishcouncil.org
Notes to Editors
Launches:
London
Tuesday 10 January, 6-7.30pm
Architectural Association, The New Soft Room, 36 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3ES
Edinburgh
Thursday 12 January
Playfair Library Hall, Old College, University of Edinburgh, South Bridge, Edinburgh EH8 9YL
Cardiff
Wednesday 18 January, 6-7.30pm
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Castle Grounds, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3ER
Belfast
Thursday 19 January, 5.30-7pm
PLACE. 40 Fountain Street, Belfast BT1 5EE
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide. We work in over 100 countries in the arts, education and English and in 2010/11 we engaged face to face with 30 million people and reached 578 million. We have 6,800 staff worldwide. Our total turnover in 2010/11 was £693 million, of which our grant-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was £190 million. The remainder was generated through trading activities such as English Language teaching. For every £1 of taxpayer money invested we earn £2.65 in additional income.
The British Council’s commitment to the Venice Architecture Biennale illustrates the powerful contribution that the creative industries make to cultural relations. The British Council is responsible for the British Pavilion in Venice; showing British artists at the longest-running, most prestigious international art Biennial in the world: the Venice Biennale of Art. From 1991 the British Pavilion has also been home to architecture exhibitions in the alternate years to the art Biennale.
The British Council works with an advisory panel of leading architecture professionals across the UK which assists with the selection for the Venice Biennale every two years. For further information please visit www.britishcouncil.org/venicebiennale
Advisory Panel
Chair: Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design, Fashion at the British Council
David Anderson, Director General of the National Museum Wales
Ian Gilzean, Chief Architect, Scottish Government
Penny Lewis, Course leader, Masters in Architecture, Robert Gordon University School of Architecture
Ciaran Mackel, Architect, Ard Mackel Architects
Fred Scott, Author, On Altering Architecture
Brett Steele, Director of the Architectural Association School of Architecture and AA Publications
Finn Williams, Founder of Common Office and Deputy Leader of Placemaking Team at Croydon Council
