Catalan and Balearic architecture shown to the world at the Venice Biennale

Venice (ACN).– Catalonia and the Balearic Islands opened their own pavilion and exhibit at the 13^th Architecture Biennale in Venice on Monday. It is the first time that they are represented with their own profile in the ‘Collateral Events’ alongside the official programme. The exhibit shows the work of 9 young Catalan and Baleric architects, the winners of a contest by the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), the Catalan equivalent of the Instituto Cervantes, the British Council or the Goethe Institut. The Catalan Minister of Culture, Ferran Mascarell attended the opening of the exhibit with his Balearic counterpart, Rafael Bosch and the Director of the IRL Vicenç Villatoro. Mascarell said that “we will be in Venice for future events”.

The exhibit, curated by Jordi Badia and Fèlix Arranz was selected by a competition organised by the l'Institut Ramon Llull. 45 projects were chosen to represent Catalonia and the Balearic Islands for the first time at the Architecture Biennale in Venice.

The theme of the Collateral Events is ‘common ground’, chosen by renowned architect David Chipperfield. The works displayed at the event share the spirit of austerity, a return to buildings that work and connect with the needs of people. The Catalan and Balearic exhibit is named ‘Vogadors’ (Rowers), a project which was inspired by a text written by the Basque sculptor Jorge Oteiza, “Whoever goes forward creating something new, does so like a ‘vogador’, moving forward, yet rowing backwards, looking towards the past, towards what exists, to reinvent its essence”. The architects have a retrospective philosophy when interpreting the theme ‘common ground’, looking to the past to drive innovation.

After presenting the project in the presence of a prominent international audience, comprised of some of the architects responsible for the works, journalists and visitors, Jordi Badia told the ACN that they sought architecture which adapts to the idea of a “changing world”. “Architecture that wants to be the future but doesn’t want to lose its roots to the past” he explained.

“Incredibly human” architecture

It’s a trend in architecture that “does not claim to be cutting-edge” as Badia explained two months ago at a presentation of the project in Barcelona. In all the works displayed the use of building materials is highlighted as an essential aspect as well as respect for history of the building in the case of renovations. Badia describes the architecture as “incredibly functional and human”.

Amongst the 9 works in the ‘Vogadors’ project there are several diverse projects such as the restoration of historic buildings for example, la Seca Espai Brossa (Barcelona) by Meritxell Inaraja, la Casa Collage (Girona) by Capdeferro Arquitectures, the urban development in Can Ribas (Palma) by Jaime J. Ferrer Forés and the nursery in Pratdip (Tarragona), by Núria Salvadó and David Tàpias. Badia referred to the nursery as “a paradigmatic example of architecture which puts the architectural concept of the user and inhabitant at the centre”.

Beyond the work selected for ‘Vogadors’, the Catalan exhibit includes a display named ‘Contextos’. It is designed as a corridor along which visitors can see 160 documented works with images of architectural projects. According to the organisers, the images represent the various ‘threads’ from the sixties to the present day which make up Catalonia’s architectural fabric. 

Ferran Mascarell said that the opening of the Catalan exhibit at the Architecture Biennale in Venice, gave a clear message: “Catalonia has a place in international architecture.” The minister also told the ACN that he was in Venice to support the presence of Catalan and Balearic projects at the Venice Biennale. Mascarell described the representation of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands at the Venice Biennale for the first time as “great news”, but he was not fully satisfied. The Minister said that they “want to go further” and assured that Catalan architecture “will return to the Biennale with the ambition and desire to play a more central role”.

The Director of the Institut Ramon Llull, Vicenç Villatoro, stressed the “quality” of Catalan work at the Venice Biennale.  For Villatoro, representing the institution that supported Catalan participation in the latest Venice Biennale the ‘Vogadors’ project is “comparable with [the work of] some the best states”.Villatoro is very pleased with the result of the exposition, describing it as “intelligent” and “informative” and also highlights the exhibit as good for Catalan culture beyond architecture as well. The Director of the IRL remarked that “we must achieve equal visibility in all areas of culture”, adding that Catalan culture already has “very big names” but that “people need to associate these names to a culture”.