The 17th Venice Architecture Biennale is currently unfolding, revealing a wide range of answers to the question "How will we live together". With 60 national pavilions, numerous contributions of invited architects from all around the world and several collateral events, this year's edition restates the Biennale's role as a platform for inquiry, exploration, and disruptive thinking in architecture. Curator Hashim Sarkis' original statement called upon architects "to imagine spaces in which we can generously live together." Recent circumstances have made the question even more relevant, prompting a holistic re-evaluation of how the world as a collective can face changes and challenges of an unprecedented scale from the disrupting role of technology, to inequality, mass migration and climate change. The following national contributions reflect on "how will we live together" amidst climate change, exploring ideas for a more sustainable future.
As this year's Biennale theme was an invitation to question the status quo and reflect on the future, it has brought society's relationship with the environment into sharper focus. With the construction sector responsible for a staggering 39% of global greenhouse gases, architects have a significant role in addressing climate change. Moreover, the extents and implications of this issue have been made even more apparent during the pandemic, as the same activities that contribute to climate change enable the emergence of new diseases. In this sense, several national pavilions have chosen to frame Sarkis' question through the lens of sustainability and climate change, exploring either its consequences on communities and the built environment or investigating possible actions that could help society move forward sustainably.
Italy: Resilient Communities
