venice biennale 2012: U.S. pavilion preview

U.S. pavilion in venice, italy image © designboom

in its 13th edition, the pavilion representing the united states of america at this year’s architecture venice biennale in venice, italy will be featuring the theme ‘spontaneous interventions: design actions for the common good’. curated by cathy lang ho, ned cramer and david van der leer and organized by the institute for urban design on behalf of the U.S. department of state’s bureau of educational and cultural affairs, the exhibit will highlight 124 urban interventions created by architects, designers, planners, artists and everyday individuals to positively benefit cities and communities. the topic responds to the biennale’s curator david chipperfield‘s delineated overarching topic of ‘common ground’ by focusing upon the public spaces which are shared within the country.

‘proxy’ in san francisco by envelope a+d

selected from over 450 submissions, the chosen projects have been realized in recent years and collectively capture the arising trends which improve the comfort, functionality, inclusiveness, safety and sustainability of cities. contributing to the growing presence of guerrilla bicycle lanes, communal farms and gardens, outdoor living rooms, pop-up markets and networks for sharing, the bottom-up movement is re-envisioning and revitalizing the american city. the small-scale acts reflect upon the nation’s perspective as whole on the concept of civic participation, social justice and their built environment.

‘edible schoolyard’ in brooklyn by WORKac

an installation designed by brooklyn-based studio freecell is collaborating with california-based communication design firm M-A-D to formulate an enveloping framework which will present the archive of projects with an integrated a system of banners. new york-based interboro will implement an outdoor living room for visitors with moveable components to serve as a flexible hang out and workshop space with many configurations.

‘moistSCAPE’ installation by freecell at the henry urbach gallery, 2004 see designboom’s coverage of this project here

‘local code: real estates’ by nicholas de monchaux

‘better block project’ in dallas, texas by jason andres + andrew howard

‘fresh moves mobile market’ in chicago by architecture for humanity & food desert action

‘air casting’ by habitatmap

‘hypothetical development organization’ by rob walker in collaboration with candy chang in new orleans

the 13th international architecture biennale is curated by london-based architect david chipperfield. the theme of the event is entitled ‘common ground’ and will run from 29th of august through 25th november 2012, in venice, italy.