Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Venice – Giardini - Pavilions: The 15th International Architecture Biennale – USA




The U.S.A. Pavilion - The Architectural Imagination
Commissioner: Monica Ponce de Leon
Curators: Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon

U.S.A.  The Architectural Imagination, is a  unique  curatorial  project  led  by Cynthia Davidson and Monica Ponce de Leon to produce new speculative architectural proposals for four sites in Detroit,  Michigan.  The 12 projects on display,  by  22 American  architects, comprise  some  250 objects including architectural models, drawings, collages, and videos.   The home of the automobile,  the  free-span  factory  floor,  and  Motown  and  techno  music,  Detroit  once embodied  invention.  Today the city is coping  with dramatic  population  loss,  desolate  neighborhoods, abandoned buildings,  and sharp racial divides. In addressing these problems, Detroit  has  the potential  to become  a  model  for  other  postindustrial  cities  facing  similar  practical  challenges: repurposing  empty industrial  buildings,  mitigating  the  effects  of  global  migration  on  the  city,  and  reinventing  previously industrial waterfronts and dormant infrastructure.
Above. Mexicantown – A Liminal Blur – Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects.
 
 
My Detriot Postcards

“The twenty photographs to be printed as postcards will help us tell the exhibition visitor short stories about life in Detroit. These views of the city will complement the work of the architects at the U.S. Pavilion in Venice.”
Cynthia Davidson

U.S.A. Twenty images by 18 individuals were selected as winners of My Detriot Postcard Contest. The 463 entries were reviewed by photographer and sociologist Camilo Jose Vergara, who has photographed Detroit since 1985, and Davidson. They looked for photos that were individually striking but, when grouped with the other winning images, helped tell a larger story about Detroit today.


  The U.S.A. Pavilion

Detroit Reassembly Plant

T+E+A+M


The U.S.A. Pavilion

A New Federal Project
Zago Architecture
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