Installation for the 2018 Venice Biennale “Freespace” curated by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.
I understand my role as an architect as one who thinks and creates space. Spaces give buildings – by means of their presence – subjective universal validity. In both my office and teaching I operate independently with a strong interest in a non-contextual architecture that emerges from itself. I consider experience of space as the basis to form architecture.
The installation in the Arsenale mainly consists of columns that are placed as objects to create an intensified spatial experience. From a distance the installation is understood as an architectural object without a clear order. However, upon approaching, it transforms into a spatial experience that constantly oscillates between an emotional and intellectual reading of this new space. At the spatial centre of the installation is an open area defined by an order of its own. In the middle of this space, on a horizontal slab placed on the floor, the movie “The Construction of Villa Além” can be viewed with audio directed from above.
Valerio Olgiati
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