hans ulrich obrist : now interviews at the venice architecture biennale 2010

‘now interviews’ by hans ulrich obrist at the 12th international architecture biennale in venice, italy
image © designboom

for this year’s venice architecture biennale, director and 2010 pritzker prize winner kazuyo sejima
has invited contemporary art curator hans ulrich obrist to develop an exhibition that captures
the diverse practices of all the participants involved in the international event. ‘now interviews’
is a project that obrist describes as ‘a portrait of an exhibition’. it aims to encourage viewers
to pause and listen, one by one, for an insightful look into the methods and practice of each
participants and their projects. all the interviews were publicly conducted on-site over a period
of six days.

located in one of the halls of the old arsenale building, the setting has been designed by SANAA
(kazuyo sejima and ryue nishizawa) and features rows and rows of monitors set in front
‘nextmaruni chairs‘, designed by the japanese architect duo in 2005. equipped with a solo headphone,
the set up allows visitors to experience the films in an intimate and solitary manner.

we met up with zurich-born hans ulrich obrist, who has been an appreciator of the designboom
interview series from its inception 10 years ago. obrist is not a newcomer to the medium,
having conducted a series of ‘marathon’ interviews which includes his 24-hour project (2006)
for the london serpentine gallery. an archive of the project was also shown in its entirety at the biennale.

names of participants
image © designboom

exhibition space at the arsenale building
image © designboom

(upper left) exhibition view
(upper right) ryue nishizama and kazuyo sejima of SANAA
(bottom left and right) participants listening to the interviews on headphones
images © designboom

SANAA interview conducted by hans ulrich obrist

danish artist olafur eliasson getting interviewed by hans ulrich obrist
images © designboom

interview of olafur eliasson

production shot
image © designboom

hans ulrich obrist before the opening of the biennale
portrait © designboom

full credits and acknowledgments:

project director: bettina korek
producer: karen constine
project manager: justin conner
research coordinators: yun jie chung, alexandra weeks
research assistants: karl kvaran, francesca colussi, josephine new, lindsay huse,
coris evans, marina doritis
production coordinator: maggie kayne
videographer: piergiorgio grande
editor: francesco marotta
installation design: SANAA
organized by: institute of the 21st century, pasadena arts council
with the support of: foryourart, the kayne foundation, brenda r. potter,
catherine and jeffrey soros
with thanks to: sara adelman, sam chermayeff, bice curuiger, bradley fraser,
sarah herda, maja hoffman, naoko kawachi, heather lindsey, janis minton, ryue nishizawa,
ikeda satoshi, felicity d. scott, kevin conroy scott, kazuyo sejima, william sherak,
frederic tuten, lorraine two, joseph varet, miriam walt, sarah williams