CON-NEC-TED-NESS

DANISH PAVILION, 17TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION, LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA 2021

curated by Marianne Krogh
Exhibitors: Lundgaard & Tranberg
Commissioner: Danish Architecture Center

 

Pavilion Management
Installation Local Coordination

 

 

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://dac.dk/en/exhibitions/con-nect-ed-ness/

Con-nect-ed-ness: The Danish Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La
Biennale di Venezia focuses on people’s connection with each other and with nature, in a total
installation consisting of a giant cyclic system of water collected locally in Venice.

Visitors to the Danish Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in Venice can experience a single, complete work that explores the concept of connectedness. With reference to the main theme of the Biennale Architettura 2021, “How will we live together?”, the Danish contribution reminds us of how architecture as an art form can render the invisible visible and evoke an indelible sense of connection between people and the Earth’s elements.

“We are living in a time where we clearly experience the climate-related consequences of people having divided the world into separate units for centuries, without understanding that our actions have consequences many thousands of miles away. For better and for worse, with the current pandemic as a disturbing example. The aim of the Danish Pavilion is to create a space for a new experience of cohesion; where, with their own bodies, visitors can feel the connectedness between us all” says Marianne Krogh, curator of the Danish Pavilion.

Working together, the exhibition architects, Lundgaard & Tranberg Architects, and curator Marianne Krogh, have created a total installation that completely transforms the Danish Pavilion and immerses it in nature’s cyclic system – with water as the core element.
The site-specific exhibition caters to all the senses.

“We believe that, through our senses, we can begin to understand ourselves in a larger context. This is the first step toward taking responsibility, both in our approach to the planet and to each other” says Marianne Krogh.

As part of the artistic and architectural approach, the existing architecture of the two pavilions is an integrated part of the exhibition. The pipes running throughout the building and the water collection tanks outside are visible. In the pavilion’s large hall, floor-to-ceiling textiles add a contrast and tactility to the simple raw structures, while a recycled floor from a former gymnasium has been transformed into a giant floating platform. While exploring the various spaces of the exhibition, visitors can become part of the cyclic system by drinking a cup of tea brewed with leaves from the lemon verbena trees planted in the pavilion – trees which also absorb water from the extensive cyclic system.

The exhibition asks the question: How can we (re)create a new, meaningful relationship with the world as a place where we recognize the fundamental condition that we are connected – not just with each other, but with all living beings? The dependence between humans and Earth as the basis for a sustainable future for all is illustrated by linking the pavilion’s installation directly to the planet’s own cyclic system.

 

Photo Credits:
Hampus Berndtson; Lundgaard Tranberg Architects; Luca Delise