Australian Pavilion Venice
This shortlisted entry was by invitation to replace the original pavilion. Our proposal engages with both Italian and Australian cultures to create a multicultural hybrid between creative endeavour, artisanship and technology.
Venetian notions of bridges as physical and metaphysical transitions are integral to this design.
The pavilion is neither autonomous nor chameleon-like. Neither an isolated chamber for the display of art nor a structure melding seamlessly with its surroundings. It establishes a series of physical, cultural, and aesthetic bridges between nations through conversation and collaboration.
Terracotta participates in a conversation about passages from one place to another, from one time to another. Terracotta is a material commonplace in Italy with abundant local expertise. Yet our terracotta unit is not a traditional design or conventionally mass produced. Fired from a mix of rich Australian and Italian soils, its ridges and seams create a texture unique.
A ramp passing through the building crosses from one setting to another. From a crowded corner of the Giardini into the space of contemporary Australian art and architecture, and on to a Venetian canal.
Scenery transforms as you enter an anteroom and are welcomed to another reality, then oriented and guided further into a gallery space before returning to the city of bridges.
- Project Team Wardle in collaboration with Industrial Designer Simon Lloyd
- Client Australian Council for the Arts
- Location Venice, Italy
- Procurement Design Competition Proposal
- Project Duration 2011
- Floor Levels 2
- Footprint 150 sqm
- Floor Area 549 sqm
The rituals of opening events during the Vernissage are cast and embedded into the new Pavilion – a lectern moulded adjacent to the entry as a focus for larger events, a low seat extends around the perimeter for rest, and a balcony stretches along the canal.
A series of thresholds, framed views and (semi) enclosures where anticipation builds until the work is revealed.
The hand of the maker will be evident in these terracotta battens. The incorporation of overburnt, discoloured or deliberately roughened pieces will reveal the process of making itself.
