La Biennale di Venezia 2014 - a look back at the exhibition

This year's 14th Venice Architecture Biennale boasts several records. The exhibition is the largest showcase of architecture today, featuring 66 national representations (the most in the history of the biennale) alongside two main exhibitions. For national pavilions, curator Rem Koolhaas has chosen a unifying theme Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014, which raises questions about modernity and its influence on architectural transformations in individual nation-states over the past century. In the two main exhibitions, Elements of Architecture and Monditalia, over 60 sections/exhibitions or case studies can be viewed - Elements of Architecture presents Koolhaas's 16 basic constructive elements of architecture (ceiling, wall, window, door, ...). In Monditalia, 44 case studies and 88 Italian films map the current problems and challenges faced by the entire country from north to south. Italy serves as a metaphor for the events and processes currently unfolding on a global scale in various parts of the world.
This is the longest architecture biennale, as the exhibition has been extended from 3 to 6 months, similar to the art biennale. For the preparation of the exhibition, Rem Koolhaas requested the longest time – dedicating two years to the project instead of the usual one year. This year's biennale also provides the most interesting and coherent report on national pavilions thanks to the unifying theme Absorbing Modernity 1914-2014. Compared to previous years, it features the fewest contemporary star architectural firms (according to Koolhaas, the exhibition is about architecture and not about architects), focusing exclusively and explicitly on the foundations of architecture and looking at the last hundred years as a basis for re-evaluating the current state of architecture. The biennale is the most diverse and interdisciplinary - for the first time, it includes festivals of dance, film, theater, and music taking place in Venice throughout the year. The entire exhibition takes on the character of a celebration bursting with energy, colors, and pulsating life.