Partecipazione Trajectory and Implications of an Unbuilt Exhibition

Abstract

This essay investigates Partecipazione, the exhibition curated by architecture collective AKT based in Vienna and Hermann Czech for the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, ‘The Laboratory of the Future’, held in 2023. Partecipazione was conceptualised as an interior intervention dividing the pavilion space into two parts—one for the Biennale and one for Venice. The pavilion, connected with the city through the proposed bridge crossing over the wall of Giardini, would host various activities open to the residents of Saint Elena Island. Although Partecipazione sought to engage a broader audience and foster community participation, concerns appeared regarding its impact on the pavilions’ and Giardini’s architectural heritage, leading to the suspension of the proposal in the process. However, curators decided to expose the rejection and exhibit the unfinished interior of the pavilion while, at the same time, shifting the focus to preservation issues present within the institution of the Biennale. Despite remaining unbuilt as initially conceptualised, Partecipazione initiated a dialogue about the challenges of architectural preservation in Venice and the Biennale’s role in shaping the city.

The essay critically examines Partecipazione’s trajectory, from the conceptualisation and design to rejection, and considers its broader implications on contemporary architectural and exhibition practice and audiences. The essay will draw on the interview conducted with AKT, which provided valuable information and insights into the curatorial and architectural processes surrounding the exhibition. Through analysing tensions between experimentation and preservation narratives, the essay offers insights into the evolving role of architectural exhibitions as platforms for expanding architectural discourses and practices. It argues that precisely due to remaining unbuilt, Partecipazione exemplified the transformative potential of an architectural exhibition to challenge architectural discourses. Finally, this essay aims to contribute to the legacy of Partecipazione by examining how its unbuilt nature and incompleteness provoke critical questions about the role of architectural exhibitions, the coexistence of temporary interventions with heritage, and the transformative potential of experimental and open-ended exhibition practices.