La Biennale Di Venezia: Architettura
Personally I have never been to a Venice Biennale, however I would very much like to. Having looked into the Biennale a few times it is clearly a very inspirational event to attend, full of ideas and creativity in many forms. I think that looking at, and going to, events such as these is a very valuable experience to take advantage of. The sharing and expression of ideas helps to move everyone forwards and develop styles and inspirations.
In particular though, I am interested in the exposure to other mediums. Taking for example one of the earlier readings from this blog which focused on Zaha Hadid, she expressed how she was influenced so much by painting and the Suprematist style of artistic expression. This is something which has resonated with me since I watched that video and has been in mind. In fact I am now using art in my current design studio project to generate and express my own architectural ideas.
Exposure to other forms of creativity is invaluable. Just because something is not architecture, does not mean that it cannot influence architecture. After all, architecture is inclusive of all things, all people and all disciplines. Experiencing these other disciplines not only helps us to think outside the box and gain inspiration, it helps us to understand (and subsequently respond) to them in our work.
MIPIM (Le Marché International Des Professionnels De L'immobilier)
Although MIPIM is far more business orientated that the Venice Biennale, the aims are still along similar lines. I think that events like this are becoming an essential part of the architectural world. This is primarily because of the witnessed increase in contracted buildings. The role of the architect is becoming a smaller one, with more and more buildings being designed from a template of guidelines as opposed to an architects creativity and applied logic.
Events such as MIPIM see the creation of collaboration. Architects can weigh in on projects and meet to discuss them with the people who are involved. This means that the developers can effortlessly see how their projects can be improved through the use of different inputs from different people. Hopefully with many, this will restore so faith in the role of the architect and show how they are a necessity for a building which is special.
Reflection On Reflective Readings
Whether we like it or not, architecture as a practice is changing and this is something that we need both need to fight and embrace simultaneously. The way that buildings are being produced now is seeing a decline in architectural input. I think that part of this is a lack of keeping up with the world.
Architecture is a practice which feels (for the most part) stuck in its ways. We communicate through methods which have been tried and tested, they work and they work well. However the world is changing and we need to respond to that. We need to begin thinking about the wider context of the practice. I think that both examples in this most recent reading are suggestive of a broader context in regards to the events they mention. It does not necessarily matter if the subject is more focused on business or creativity. What matters is that we are all mixing together and helping to push design forwards for the better, to achieve greater things and push our boundaries both personal and as a collective.
I am excited to apply the inspirations and knowledge gained from these readings in the future, building upon what I have done already this year.
www.mipim.com/en/the-event