Gustafson Porter (London) and Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (Seattle) have been commissioned by Biennale Director Aaron Betsky to create a landscape installation as part of this year's Biennale in Venice, the 11th International Architecture Exhibition, to be held from 14 September to 23 November 2008. This is the first time that the architecture Biennale will feature a major landscape installation.
Entitled Out There: Architecture Beyond Building, the premise for the 2008 Biennale is that "...architecture is not building..." (it) is something else. More generally, architecture is a way of representing, shaping and perhaps even offering critical alternatives to the human-made environment. In fact, buildings are not enough."
Neil Porter, Director of Gustafson Porter, states, "Landscape architecture is a greatly neglected subject from a curatorial point of view, so we are hugely excited by the opportunity of engaging with visitors at the Biennale. The architecture of buildings and landscapes are clearly intrinsically linked and it is crucial that we work to uplift and enhance the built environment around us."
The architectural landscape installation by Gustafson Porter and Gustafson Guthrie Nichol's (GP / GGN), entitled Towards Paradise, will be sited at the end of the Arsenale, within the overgrown grounds of the former Church of the Virgins, a Benedictine nunnery that was destroyed in the late 1800s. Betsky's brief, 'Il faut cultiver notre jardin,' is a quote from Voltaire's Candide and Towards Paradise is a multi-faceted response, indicating the ways in which the human race engages, or fails to engage, in husbanding natural resources: are we diligent or dilatory? Are we committed or corrupted? Inspired by Gian Battista Tiepolo's giant allegorical painting 'The Plague of the Serpent' in
the Accademia art gallery in Venice, where the image of the serpent becomes a metaphor for voyage, discovery and self knowledge, Towards Paradise is conceived as a contemporary allegory in the broadest sense.
Towards Paradise will take the visitor on a journey through earthly dilemmas, passing from life to death and 'towards paradise'. Evoking a past, present and future, the garden is composed of five main spaces, with places for reflection, commemoration, conversation, contemplation and enlightenment.
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For more information and high resolution images please contact:
Justine Harvey at ING MEDIA on 0207 247 8334 / 0798 446 2341
E-mail: justine.harvey@ing-media.com
Gemma Wood at ING MEDIA on 0207 247 8334 / 0775 118 7175
E-mail: gemma@ing-media.com
Justine Harvey at ING MEDIA on 0207 247 8334 / 0798 446 2341
E-mail: justine.harvey@ing-media.com
Gemma Wood at ING MEDIA on 0207 247 8334 / 0775 118 7175
E-mail: gemma@ing-media.com