kazuyo sejima: venice architecture biennale 2010 closing ceremony

kazuyo sejima image © designboom

the 12th international architecture exhibition, ‘people meet in architecture’, directed by japanese architect kazuyo sejima, closed its doors yesterday. running from august 29th – november 21st, 2010, the biennale included the participation of 54 countries and 20 collateral events, taking place at the main venues of the giardini publicci and arsenale. in addition, there were various other off-site venues of the biennale in and around venice. with a total number of over 170,000 visitors, and a daily average of 2000 attendants, this year’s event reached record numbers, with an increase of 31% in visitors compared to 2008. youth and students have made up 49% of the total.

‘the exhibition has done for me what I hoped it would do for other people, open architecture to new points and ways of connecting people. the process of the biennale has also been an exercise in people meeting in architecture,’ says kazuyo sejima.

closing ceremony at the biennale’s library in the giardini image © designboom

designboom attended the closing ceremony which took place at the biennale’s library in the giardini. here is a video of kazuyo sejima speaking about her experience curating such an immense event, and what she has learned from it.

video © designboom

kazuyo sejima giving out her autograph to surrounding fans image © designboom

kazuyo sejima is the first woman to direct the venice architecture biennale, since its inception in 1980.