Migrating Landscapes - Venice Biennale

Three McGill graduates have been chosen as national winners to participate with Migrating Landscapes in the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture: John Leroux (B.Arch. 1994), a member of Team 189 from the Maritimes; Kfir Gluzberg (M.Arch. 2011), a member of Team 206 from Ontario; and Amirali Javidan (M.Arch. 2001), Team 142 from B.C.

[From the Migrating Landscapes website:] Migrating Landscapes was selected by a national juried competition as Canada’s official entry at the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture. It will be presented by Winnipeg-based 5468796 Architecture and Jae-Sung Chon, who joined together for this project to form a new entity: the Migrating Landscapes Organizer (MLO). [...] Migrating Landscapes will act as a forum for Canadian architects and designers to investigate, provoke, document and expose the unique manifestations of cultural memory that overlay Canada today and how it might emerge in the future. MLO will design a 'new landscape’ – an abstract exhibition infrastructure – and will invite, through a national competition, young Canadian architects and designers to design ‘dwellings’ based on their cultural memories. The invitation is an enactment of ‘settling-unsettling’, and the dwellings will discuss various forms of migrated memories ‘settled-unsettled’ into the ‘new landscape’. The dwellings and the landscape, together, will form the exhibition at Venice 2012. During the three-month stay in Venice, Migrating Landscapes will offer visitors a view into how migrated memories - their own and others - are registered as part of Canada’s topography, a unique view into Canada’s past, present and future. After Venice, parts of Migrating Landscapes will be disassembled and sent out into the world, embarking on future migrations. This ongoing dissemination will be documented and tracked through the MLO website and a follow-up publication.

The Venice Biennale in Architecture is the single-most important and prestigious international event in contemporary architecture, equivalent to the ‘Olympics’ of Architecture. As the largest tourist event in Italy, the Biennale is also a ‘must-see’ attraction for all visitors to Venice. The Venice Biennale is held in the beautiful Giardini Pubblici (Public Gardens) and the Arsenale (former shipyards), just a short walk from St. Mark’s Square and the heart of the city on the main waterfront of Venice. Canada is one of only 30 countries to have its own permanent national pavilion in the Giardini. Our official 2012 entry, Migrating Landscapes, will be installed in the Canada Pavilion, located at a key position in the Giardini, with panoramic views of the historic city and lagoon. This provides us with a unique opportunity to showcase Canadian excellence in architecture on the world stage. More than 170,000 international visitors will attend the 2012 Venice Biennale to be inspired by cutting-edge architecture, to share ideas and to network with peers in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Millions more will be exposed to the Venice Biennale through the Biennale’s high-powered international media campaign, a dedicated website, extensive postering throughout Italy, merchandising and an exhibition catalogue. Canadian participants in the Venice Biennale consistently enjoy an exponential increase in profile and business as a result of the worldwide exposure the exhibition provides. The 2012 Venice Biennale will be open from August 29 to November 25, 2012.

For full information on Migrating Landscapes, please visit the website.