For the first time, the 2023 Venice Biennale will be hosting a College event dedicated to architecture, an initiative that will offer just under a month of workshops, seminars, and lectures focusing on decarbonization and decolonization. The application deadline is February 17, 2023. Biennale Colleges have previously been organized for cinema, dance, music, theatre, art, and history. This year’s International Architecture Biennale, scheduled for May 26 – November 26 and curated by Lesley Lokko, will be subtitled The Laboratory of the Future, and will include the educational and training initiative Biennale College Architettura. Participation is open to students and graduates under 30, academics under 35 (including PhD candidates, researchers, university assistants, tutors, and teaching fellows), and emerging professionals under 35. The curator will select up to 50 of the most interesting and significant projects submitted by candidates via the event website. Successful applicants will then take part in an educational program, scheduled for June 25 – July 22, 2023.
Alongside leading architects and building industry professionals, the winners will participate in a series of events focused on opening discussion on potential design initiatives on different scales and new possibilities for architectural education in the coming decades. College participants will also be given access to the projects on show at the exhibition. Through this combination of experiences, they’ll be able to draw upon the rich history of radical and transformative teaching approaches that have emerged in architectural education over the last fifty years. Biennale College Architettura will be an exploratory space for critical and creative dialogue on two of the most urgent issues of our time, decolonization and decarbonization, which are also the focus of the entire event.
A documentary, to be screened as part of the exhibition, will look at this program of exchange and discussion.
>>> Find out more about the 18th International Architecture Exhibition.
“The 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia will be trialing a College program this year for the first time,” says Roberto Cicutto, president of the Venice Biennale. “We hope that it will meet with the same success as the first College Arte, held last year and coordinated by Cecilia Alemani. Biennale College Architettura completes a process that began with the other disciplines encompassed by the Venice Biennale – namely, dance, music, theatre, cinema, and art – intended to open a door to the world for young architects. The challenge that Lesley Lokko has taken on is possibly more complex than that of her predecessors. But it’s precisely her experience in transforming the way we understand, communicate, and teach architecture that makes her the most suitable person for achieving this goal. As we wish Lesley every success, we hope for the same for all of us as we work to make the Venice Biennale a workshop and platform for international discussion for the young men and women who, through this experience, will acquire even greater insight into their chosen profession.”
>>> Meet the curators of the Italian Pavilion.
Location: Venice, Italy
Date: 9 gennaio 2023 - Lancio bando Biennale College Architettura
17 febbraio 2023 - Chiusura bando Biennale College Architettura
Fine marzo 2023 - Comunicazione dei risultati
25 giugno – 22 luglio 2023 - Biennale College Architettura
Individual photo credits are included in each gallery image