Lebanese Pavilion | Venice Architecture Biennale 2018

View of the Lebanese Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale; photo © Inexhibit

Lebanese Pavilion | The Place that Remains. Recounting the unbuilt territory

For the first time, Lebanon participates in the Venice Architecture Biennale with an exhibition entitled “The Place that Remains. Recounting the unbuilt territory“.
Curated by Hala Younes – assistant professor of architecture at the Lebanese American University (LAU) – the exhibition focuses on the unexpressed potentials of the Lebanese territory, starting from its unbuilt areas.

Lebanon is a small, densely populated country that suffers from political instability and is at the center of a region plagued by conflicts; in that context, worsened by the effects of globalization and of the refugee crisis, the nation is facing an aggressive and widespread urban sprawl. The objective of the exhibition is to provide an alternative perspective on urban reality by identifying the ‘unbuilt’. Instead of pinpointing the driving forces of that sprawl, the project aims at shedding light on the logic of inertia and resistance that may channel or divert it.

“The purpose of the exhibition is to spread knowledge and awareness about the territorial challenges in Lebanese society. Because our heritage is not only architectural but lies also in geography and landscape”. (Hala Younes).

The focus is on the role architects can play within the planning process, beginning with the analysis of the characteristics, and weaknesses, of the Lebanese territory. The first step is to make such territory visible; to survey, catalog, and shed light on the qualities of the remaining places, thus identifying those positive strategies that may help to protect them.
The exhibition is built around a three-dimensional landscape map and also features the work of six photographers from Lebanon: Gregory Buchakjian, Catherine Cattaruzza, Gilbert Hage, Houda Kassatly, Ieva Sauvargaite, and Talal Khoury (video).

BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2018
16TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION | “Freespace”
Venice, 26.05 / 25.11 2018

Preparatory Sketch, Beirut River Watershed, 2018 © Hala Younes

Preparatory Sketch, Projection, 2018, © Hala Younes

Catherine Cattaruzza, The thin lines between the river and me, 2018, courtesy of the artist

Detail of the installation of the Lebanon Pavilion; photo © Inexhibit