Discussion on the Pavilion of the Czech and Slovak Republics at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2016

This year's exhibition in the pavilion of the Czech and Slovak Republics at the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture is a serious attempt to avoid the carnival-like character of this increasingly popular showcase. The project titled Care for Architecture: Asking the Arché of Architecture to Dance, prepared by a team consisting of Benjamín Brádňanský, Petr Hájek, Vít Halada, Ján Studený along with architecture theorists Marián Zervan and Monika Mitášová, focused on a single, yet radical and still provocative building – the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, completed in 1979 according to the design of architect Vladimír Dedeček. The conceptually sophisticated exhibition presented this building in the widest possible contexts, with the authors paying great attention primarily to various interpretations, reflections, discussions, and projects it has provoked up to the present day.

What goal did the authors have in mind when preparing the exhibition? Who was it primarily intended for? How did it meet their expectations? What have the responses been? Is it even meaningful to prepare such a demanding exhibition at the biennale, where most visitors want to see as much as possible in a limited time? And can one simply say that this type of visitor does not interest us? What is the real purpose of an exhibition in a national pavilion? We will attempt to answer these and other questions during the discussion at the VIPER Gallery.

Guests:
Petr Hájek (architect, associate professor at the Faculty of Architecture CTU in Prague, head of the studio at the VŠVU in Bratislava, co-author of the pavilion concept)
Marián Zervan (theorist of architecture, head of the Department of History and Theory of Art at FF TRUNI Trnava, assistant professor at VŠVU Bratislava, co-author of the pavilion concept)
Osamu Okamura (architect, program director of the international festival and conference for livable cities reSITE)

Moderated by Karolína Jirkalová (architecture critic, Art+Antiques)

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