venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
‘borderline’, the hungary pavilion at the 12th international architecture biennale in venice, italy
all images courtesy the ministry of national resources of hungary
image © tamás bujnovszky

as part of this year’s international architecture biennale in venice, italy, the hungary pavilion
explores the simplest and most fundamental act of the architect: drawing. ‘borderline
defines the line as the origin of the architectural idea as opposed to the house or space.
using the almost exclusively two-dimensional element as a focal point, the project utilizes
nearly one hundred kilometres of thread to physically illustrate how lines are translated
into architecture.

curated by two young hungarian architects, andor wesselényi-garay and marcel ferencz,
‘borderline’ uses thin taut ropes as an analogy for the line. by arranging them in groups
and clusters, they become visual references to columns, creating not a definite space
but more a spatial diagram of the process whereby the first gestures committed to paper
evolve into a building. the installation is an interactive element, being continuously shaped
and moved by the people walking in and through it. projected through the installation medium
and on to the walls are ‘drawing interviews’ that the team conducted with 40 foreign and
hungarian architects. not only do the videos verify the basic proposition of the exhibition
(that architects still draw), they offer a voyeuristic look into the very personal and idiosyncratic
act of sketching an idea.

to go with this year’s biennale theme, ‘people meet in architecture’, the pavilion aimed
to encompass a wide community in its making: thirty thousand pencils were collected
from schools all over the country and hung on the ends of the ropes to serve as mementos
of individuals, gestures and drawings. both hungarian and foreign architects were involved
with the video project, building on the notion that the act of drawing is the common
denominator of the work of all architects.

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
vasa perovic
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
tony fretton
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
peter schweger
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
tina gregoric and aljosa dekleva
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
christin jabornegg sketching in his office
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
ekler dezsõ drawing
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
wolf d. prix sketching
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
répás ferenc
image © tamás bujnovszky

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
rendered bird’s eye view

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
rendered exhibition set up

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
exhibition space

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
projection wall

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
‘clouds’ of pencils in exhibition space

venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: hungary pavilion
exhibition entrance