Dezeen Magazine

Aravena rounds up architecture's biggest names for Venice Biennale 2016

Venice Architecture Biennale 2016: Tadao Ando, Peter Zumthor, David Chipperfield and SANAA are among the star-studded list of contributors announced for the Alejandro Aravena-curated Venice Architecture Biennale 2016.

Revealed in a press conference today, the list of 88 participants for the 15th edition of the biennial exhibition includes dozens of celebrated architects, including Herzog & de MeuronEduardo Souto de Moura, Norman Foster and Renzo Piano.

Rem Koolhaas, Richard Rogers, Shigeru Ban, Kengo Kuma and Wang Shu will also be contributing, along with younger offices including Turner Prize-winner Assemble and Chilean studio Pezo von Ellrichshausen.

Entitled Reporting From The Front, the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016 is intended by Elemental director Alejandro Aravena to offer a new perspective on global issues including crime, sanitation, housing shortage, traffic, waste, migration and pollution.

Of the 88 participants, 50 will be exhibiting for the first time, and 33 will be under the age of 40 – a result that Aravena said was not intentional.

Speaking at a Biennale press conference in London earlier today, the Chilean architect said he was looking for quality rather than youth in his selection.

"It was not part of our agenda, and even if it was, the question of youth is not connected to age," said, who is also receiving architecture's highest accolade, the Pritzker Prize, this year.

"Sometimes old people with a lot of experience are still the ones that come up with the most fresh ideas, and sometimes young people are extremely mature, and able to use their energy and their passion," he added.

Alejandro Aravena
During the press conference, Alejandro Aravena also claimed that architects have no moral obligation to society

This year's Biennale will also include exhibitions from 61 nations, as well as three "special projects" – pavilions that are not curated by a country and will act as satellites to Aravena's main exhibitions.

London's V&A museum will present an exhibition named A World of Fragile Parts, while architect Stefano Recalcati will curate an exhibition looking at the regeneration of urban ports, entitled Reporting from Marghera and Other Waterfronts.

The third will be a pavilion looking at the relationship between public and private space, curated by Ricky Burdett on behalf of the London School of Economics and the Alfred Herrhausen Society.

Reporting From The Front opens to the public on 28 May and runs until 27 November.

Scroll down for the full list of participants:


1. 51N4E (Brussels, Belgium)
Freek Persyn, Johan Anrys

2. ADNBA (Bucharest, Romania)
Andrei Serbescu, Adrian-Ioan Untaru

3. Aires Mateus (Lisbon, Portugal)
Francisco Aires Mateus, Manuel Aires Mateus

4. Al Borde (Quito, Ecuador)
David Barragán, Pascual Gangotena, Marialuisa Borja, Esteban Benavides

5. Alexander Brodsky (Moscow, Russia)

6. Alonso de Santos Estudio (Madrid, Spain)
Francisco Alonso de Santos

7. Amateur Architecture Studio (Hangzhou, China)
Wang Shu, Lu Wenyu

8. Anupama Kundoo Architects (Auroville, India)
Anupama Kundoo

9. Architecture and Vision (Bomarzo - Viterbo, Italy)
Arturo Vittori

10. Arno Brandlhuber + Christopher Roth (Berlin, Germany)

11. Assemble (London, Great Britain)

12. Atelier Bow-Wow (Tokyo, Japan)
Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Momoyo Kaijima, Yoichi Tamai

13. Atelier Peter Zumthor & Partner (Haldenstein, Switzerland)
Peter Zumthor

14. Barozzi/Veiga (Barcelona, Spain)
Alberto Veiga, Fabrizio Barozzi

15. Batlle i Roig Arquitectes (Barcelona, Spain)
Enric Batlle, Joan Roig

16. BeL Sozietät für Architektur (Köln, Germany)
Anne-Julchen Bernhardt, Jörg Leeser

17. Bernaskoni (Moscow, Russia)
Boris Bernaskoni

18. Block Research Group, ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)
Philippe Block, Tom Van Mele
and
Ochsendorf, DeJong & Block (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
John Ochsendorf, Matthew DeJong, Philippe Block
and
Escobedo Construction (Buda, Texas, USA)
David Escobedo

19. C+S Architects (Treviso, Italy)
Carlo Cappai, Maria Alessandra Segantini

20. Cadaval & Solà-Morales (Barcelona, Spain)
Eduardo Cadaval, Clara Solà-Morales

21. Cecilia Puga (Santiago, Chile)

22. Christ & Gantenbein (Basel, Switzerland)
Emanuel Christ, Christoph Gantenbein
and
Stefano Graziani

23. Christian Kerez Zürich (Zurich, Switzerland)
Christian Kerez

24. David Chipperfield Architects (Berlin, Germany)
David Chipperfield

25. designworkshop: sa (Durban, South Africa)
Andrew Makin

26. El equipo Mazzanti – Giancarlo Mazzanti, Carlos Medellín, María Mazzanti (Bogotá, Colombia)
Giancarlo Mazzanti

27. Ensamble Studio (Madrid, Spain)
Antón García-Abril, Débora Mesa Molina

28. EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung (Hamburg, Germany)
Michael Braungart

29. Estudi d'Arquitectura Toni Gironès (Barcelona, Spain)
Toni Gironès

30. Estudio del Paisaje Teresa Moller & Asociados (Santiago, Chile)
Teresa Moller

31. Film First (New York, USA)
Gary Hustwit

32. Forensic Architecture (London, Great Britain)
Eyal Weizman

33. G124 (Gruppo di lavoro del Senatore Renzo Piano) (Rome, Italy)
Renzo Piano

34. Gabinete de Arquitectura (Asuncion, Paraguay)
Solano Benítez, Gloria Cabral, Solanito Benítez

35. Grafton Architects (Dublin, Ireland)
Yvonne Farrell, Shelley McNamara

36. Grupo EPM - Departamento de intervenciones urbanas sostenibles (Medellín, Colombia)
Horacio Valencia

37. GrupoTalca (Talca, Chile)
Martín del Solar, Rodrigo Sheward

38. Herzog & de Meuron (Basel, Switzerland)
Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron
and
Agav Films (Paris, France)
Amos Gitai

39. Hollmén Reuter Sandman Architects (Helsinki, Finland)
Saija Hollmén, Jenni Reuter, Helena Sandman

40. Hugon Kowalski + Marcin Szczelina (Poznan, Poland)
Hugon Kowalski, Marcin Szczelina, Klaudia Dopierala, Maria Dondajewska

41. Inês Lobo Arquitectos (Lisbon, Portugal)
Inês Lobo

42. Jiakun Architects (Chengdu, China)
Liu Jiakun

43. João Luís Carrilho da Graça (Lisbon, Portugal)

44. José María Sánchez García (Madrid, Spain)

45. Kashef Chowdhury/Urbana (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury

46. SANAA (Tokyo, Japan)
Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa

47. Kengo Kuma and Associates (Tokyo, Japan)
Kengo Kuma

48. Kéré Architecture (Berlin, Germany)
Francis Kéré

49. LAN (Paris, France)
Umberto Napolitano, Benoît Jallon

50. Luyanda Mpahlwa DesignSpaceAfrica (South Africa)
Luyanda Mpahlwa

51. M Giuseppina Grasso Cannizzo (Vittoria – Ragusa, Italy)

52. Manuel Herz Architects (Basel, Switzerland)
Manuel Herz

53. Marte Marte Architects (Weiler, Austria)
Bernhard Marte, Stefan Marte

54. Matharoo Associates (Ahmedabad, India)
Gurjit Singh Matharoo

55. Menos é Mais (Porto, Portugal)
Francisco Viera de Campos, Cristina Guedes

56. NLÉ (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Kunlé Adeyemi

57. Norman Foster Foundation (Madrid, Spain)
Norman Foster
and
Redline-EPFL (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Jonathan Ledgard
and
Ochsendorf, DeJong & Block (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
John Ochsendorf , Matthew DeJong, Philippe Block
and
Block Research Group, ETH Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)
Philippe Block, Tom Van Mele

58. OMA (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Rem Koolhaas

59. ORG Permanent Modernity (Brussels, Belgium)
Alexander D'Hooghe, Luk Peeters, Natalie Seys

60. Paulo David (Funchal, Portugal)

61. Pezo von Ellrichshausen (Concepcion, Chile)
Mauricio Pezo, Sofía von Ellrichshausen

62. Rahul Mehrotra and Felipe Vera (Cambridge, Washington, USA)
Rahul Mehrotra, Felipe Vera

63. Raphael Zuber (Chur, Switzerland)

64. Recetas Urbanas (Siviglia, Spain)
Santiago Cirugeda

65. Renato Rizzi (Venice, Italy)

66. Robust Architecture Workshop (Colombo, Sri Lanka)
Milinda Pathiraja

67. Rock Garden (Chandigarh, India)
Anuj Saini

68. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners (London, Great Britain)
Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk, Ivan Harbour

69. Rural Studio, Auburn University (Newbern, Alabama, USA)
Andrew Freear, Rusty Smith

70. Rural Urban Framework, The University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
Joshua Bolchover, John Lin

71. SAAS (Porto, Portugal)
Samuel Gonçalves

72. School of Architecture, University of Waterloo (Cambridge, Ontario, Canada)
Robert Jan van Pelt, Anne Bordeleau, Sascha Hastings, Donald McKay

73. Simon Velez (Bogotá, Colombia)

74. Souto Moura Arquitectos (Porto, Portugal)
Eduardo Souto de Moura

75. SPBR Arquitetos (São Paulo, Brazil)
Angelo Bucci

76.Studio Anna Heringer (Laufen, Germany)
Anna Heringer
and
Lehm Ton Erde Baukunst (Schlins, Austria)
Martin Rauch
and
Architekturmuseum der TUM (Munich, Germany)
Andres Lepik

77. Studio Jaeeun-Choi (Tokyo, Japan)
Shigeru Ban Architects (Tokyo, Japan)
Jaeeun-Choi, Shigeru Ban

78. Studio Mumbai Architects (Mumbai, India)
Bijoy Jain

79. Studio Snozzi (Locarno, Switzerland)
Luigi Snozzi

80. Studio TAMassociati (Venice, Italy)
Massimo Lepore, Raul Pantaleo, Simone Sfriso

81. Tadao Ando Architect & Associates (Osaka, Japan)
Tadao Ando

82. Tatiana Bilbao Estudio (Mexico City, Mexico)
Tatiana Bilbao
and
Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura (Mexico City, Mexico)
Rozana Montiel
and
Dellekamp Arquitectos (Mexico City, Mexico)
Derek Dellekamp
and
Alejandro Hernández (Mexico City, Mexico)

83. Transsolar (Stuttgart, Germany)
Matthias Schuler
and
Anja Thierfelder Freie Architektin (Stuttgart, Germany)
Anja Thierfelder

84. TYIN tegnestue (Trondheim, Norway)
Yashar Hanstad, Andreas Grønvedt Gjertsen

85. VAVStudio (Iran)
Arash Aliabadi, Afshin Farzin, Saman Shamsbeki, Sakhi Shirmohammadi, Amin Tadjsoleiman

86. Vo Trong Nghia Architects (Hanoi, Vietnam)
Vo Trong Nghia

87. Werner Sobek (Stuttgart, Germany)

88. ZAO/Standardarchitecture (Beijing, China)
Zhang Ke