french pavilion envisions a miniature world within disco ball at venice architecture biennale

france’s national pavilion presents ‘ball theater’, displaying at the venice architecture biennale from May 20 - November 26, 2023.

stephen landy edited by sofia lekka angelopoulou April 2, 2023 3 min

French PAVILION AT VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2023

The 18th Venice Architecture Biennale welcomes France’s national pavilion to present ‘Ball Theater’, displaying from May 20 to November 26, 2023. Led by Muoto, the project places visitors at center-stage, and prompts intervention with the exhibit through movement, speech and gesture. As an object, the reflective, hollow half-sphere is visually striking, but it’s the constantly changing experience from the plurality of bodies and voices that evokes such excitement in attendees.

french pavilion envisions a miniature world within disco ball at venice architecture biennale - 1 — Ball Theater prompts intervention from visitors through movement, speech and gesture

images courtesy of Muoto, Georgi Stanishev and Clémence La Sagna

Ball theater is a constantly changing sensory experience

The architectural firm Muoto partnered with scenographers Georgi Stanishev and Clémence La Sagna, associate curator Jos Auzende, and programmer Anna Tar-divel, to bring the ‘Ball Theater’ to the Venice Biennale. The design of the sensory experience is resemblant to that of an echo chamber, a place for listening and meditation, and a laboratory of identities. For one week in every month, ‘Ball Theater’ will host different events offering an opportunity for artists, researchers and students, to inhabit and occupy the theater, transforming the dynamic of the space.

french pavilion envisions a miniature world within disco ball at venice architecture biennale - 2 — the smooth hemispherical form gives an aura of a miniature world that exudes a sense of calm

image by Spassky Fischer

immersive installation imagines a utopia

The immersive installation reawakens our desires for a utopia. The smooth hemispherical form gives an aura of a miniature world that shares a sense of calm to its occupants. ‘Ball Theater’ celebrates the present. In a world where thoughts of the future overwhelm most with societal issues and climate anxiety, this theater allows us to appreciate being in the current moment. As well as a globe, the mirror sphere can be interpreted as a disco ball, a kitsch icon of a partying era. This emphasizes a new approach to the world’s future crises, where we don’t focus on emergencies, but imagine somewhere and something different.