sergei tchoban + sergei kuznetsov: i land at russian pavilion

‘i-land’ curated by sergei tchoban for the russian pavilion at the 2012 architecture biennale in venice image © designboomvenice  2012 architecture biennale: day two – live!curator and architect sergei tchoban (along with partner sergei kuznetsov) of SPEECH techoban / kuznetsov have designed the russian pavilion for the 2012 architecture biennale. divided into two parts, ‘i-city‘ and ‘i-land’ address russia’s past and future in a highly interactive experience.

‘i-land,’ on the ground floor, provides a look into the soviet past. during the cold war, many secret cities were created that were dedicated to scientific and technological research. the names of the places and the inhabitants themselves were often times changed and non-existant to the rest of the world, except from the vigilant eye of the secret service. a black room places the user in a seemingly expansive volume, where floor and ceiling seem to extend infinitely. star-like holes of light speckled on the walls resemble the atmosphere of outer space, but upon closer inspection are peep-holes revealing bits of information on the secret cities.

main room

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dimensions of space are blurred

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star-like holes of light on the walls

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holes reveal short clips of information

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second room

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view into peep-holes

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