Nestled amongst the plethora of grandiose and carefully crafted national pavilions in the Giardini della Biennale in the Italian city of Venice is one pavilion by the city's perhaps most well-known modern architect. Sited between the pavilions of Russia and Switzerland is the Venezuela Pavilion, by architect Carlo Scarpa. In many ways, the structure typifies the design approach of its architect but has its idiosyncrasies. Built for Europe's most important biennial art exhibition, it is a member of a cohort of Modernist pavilions that came after the earlier, more classicist pavilions. This is its story.
The Venice Biennale is a prestigious international art exhibition established in 1895, making it 130 years old at the time of writing. An exhibition venue was built in the Giardini di Castello (castle gardens, known today simply as 'Giardini') to host the event. Over time, various countries would construct national pavilions within the Giardini, beginning with Belgium in 1907, followed by Great Britain in 1909, France in 1912, Russia in 1914, reaching the 28 that exist today. The Biennale continued to be held every two years, apart from during wartime and the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 1980, there has also been an Architecture Biennale in the alternate year to the Art Biennale.
