Irenebrination: Notes on Architecture, Art, Fashion, Fashion Law & Technology

In the Presence of the Past, Eclectic Inspirations for the Future: '80s Architecture, Electronic Music & The Postmodernist Spirit

In previous posts we looked at different works and projects at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, currently on in Venice. Yet, it is equally inspiring to look at previous editions of the event and spot intriguing inspirations in past installations.

For example, the 1st International Architecture Exhibition entered history for "Strada Novissima". Curated by the late architect Paolo Portoghesi, that Biennale revolved around an interesting theme, "The Presence of the Past".

"Strada Novissima" consisted in the recreation of a 70-metre-long street, incorporating 20 full-sized façades (built by Cinecittà workers) of buildings designed by 20 international architects. Among the others there were also, Ricardo Bofill, Frank O. Gehry, Arata Isozaki, Rem Koolhaas, Charles W. Moore, Paolo Portoghesi and Robert Venturi-Denis Scott Brown-John Rauch.

Each façade expressed the style and research of its architect and the final result was a street that reflected a plurality of voices and interpretations, but that also pointed at a sense of continuity that retraced the history of world architecture. Some were ironic, others scenic, a few of them became iconic.

Hans Hollein's project for "Strada Novissima", for instance, critically acclaimed as the most successful, had a distinctive postmodernist flair: Hollein wanted to integrate the columns of the Corderie with his colonnades showing the intrinsic evolution of this architectural feature. He did so by designing four different columns: one was a bushy tree cut into the shape of a column, like a topiary creation; another took inspiration from Philibert de l'Orme's 1567 drawing of a tree-shaped column.

Furthermore, the architect incorporated a reference to the hanging column fragment at Petra, which, in this case, held no structural purpose but served as an ornament. The fourth pillar showcased a design reminiscent of the renowned Chicago Herald Tribune column building, as envisioned by Adolf Loos for a 1922 competition (this pillar also cleverly played on the concept of a "newspaper column"). Spanning across the colonnade at the pediment level, an elegant neon blue arch gracefully united the composition, representing the essence of pop-modernity, so that the artwork seamlessly blended neoclassical space with a futuristic and irreverent twist.

There is a project that was designed before "Strada Novissima" and that recombined neoclassical moods with modernity - Charles Moore and Perez Architects's 1978 Piazza d'Italia in New Orleans.

Originally conceived as a tribute to Italian immigrants in New Orleans, the piazza featured a public fountain in the shape of the Italian peninsula, surrounded by multiple hemicyclical colonnades, a clock tower, and a campanile and Roman temple - in abstract and minimalist fashion.

The fountain and the surrounding colonnades in its vicinity ingeniously embraced classical forms and architectural orders, reimagining them with contemporary materials such as stainless steel and neon. Additionally, they employed kinetic elements, creatively evoking the appearance of traditional Corinthian capitals' acanthus leaves through the use of water jets.

An eclectic example of postmodernism, the semi-circular plaza embodied a blend of architectural fragments and façades. Roman arches and Corinthian columns intermingled with neon lights and vibrant, eye-catching colours, while the abstract depiction of the Italian peninsula, rendered in black-and-white tiles and bricks, extended into a fountain basin, creating a striking visual composition.

In this classical architecture combined with Pop Art techniques in a post-modernist palette, Moore combined neoclassical elements and modern aspects that transformed the architecture into a theatrical set.

The piazza rapidly deteriorated and by 2000, the Piazza d'Italia was routinely cited as a "postmodern ruin", ironically echoing its far older classical antecedents (the plaza has been restored since then).

In Italy these combinations of moods that  merged classical elements with modernity found echoes in popular culture and in other fields, including music, with artists such as Diana Est (real name Cristina Barbieri) who was a younger electropop version of more refined acts from those years, such as Matia Bazar. In 1982, the young Italian singer released her first single, "Tenax". 

The artist combined in her music, name and attire neoclassical and modern moods: her name hinted at Diana, the goddess of hunting, while "est" indicated the third person singular of the Latin verb "sum" ("to be").

Her name perfectly fit with the lyrics of her tracks: "Tenax" featured indeed Latin quotes from Terence and Seneca; her second single, "Le Louvre", mentioned instead works of art such as the Mona Lisa, preserved at the Parisian museum.

Her producers conceived for her at the time an image that combined Greek and Roman mythology with the colours, prints and patterns of Memphis Milano.

During live or TV shows Diana Est often donned a bodysuit with a pleated tunic (designed by Sibot) or a white toga-like garment made with what looked like a basic white piece of fabric matched with a mini-dress with a print à la Nathalie Du Pasquier with matching boots, usually designed by Armando Pollini. At times she accessorized her look with Perspex bangles or earrings by Ugo Correani and gloves by historical brand Alberto Portolano. Often her sets or early videos featured architectural elements such as random columns with Perspex shards protruding from them.  

A hit in the discos in the early '80s (where kids would sing her lyrics in Latin, a language they detested in school – yes, I can't deny it, we detested it), the lyrics for "Tenax" featured the sentence "Forse è già mattino e non lo so" ("It may already be morning and I don't even know") that was also painted at the entrance of Riccione's infamous Cocoricò disco club.

Diana Est eventually disappeared from the scenes shortly after another record and a new look that wasn't as successful as this one, in the meantime Electra did a cover of "Tenax" in English, entitled "Are You Automatic?" and released it in 1983.

News coverage about ancient artifacts offers us valuable opportunities to identify inspirations that we can creatively merge with modern influences.

A while back, for example, the Protection of Cultural Heritage Division of the Carabinieri spotted in a private collection the head of a statue stolen in the 1970s from the body of Hydria (water carrier), a sculpture part of the collections of Villa Albani Torlonia, and recently managed to get it back.

Hydria is depicted wearing a short tunic, an idea that can be remixed with the inspirations seen in this post to create a summer dress or top inspired by antiquities, but with a modern twist about it that combines the postmodernist architectural moods seen at the beginning of this post. The material to make it? Well, obviously some plain white cotton bedsheets (they are definitely the best to create a light and breezy summer piece...). Enjoy your mini-tunic or top and always remember that in "the presence of the past" there is definitely an inspiration for the future.

With many thanks to Kutmusic for digging out a few Diana Est records as inspirations for this post.

A Tapestry of Bricks: "Debris of History, Matters of Memory" by Gloria Cabral and Sammy Baloji with Cécile Fromont @ The 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia

As seen in a previous post, the art of tapestry goes beyond using ordinary threads and yarns. It is indeed possible to skillfully incorporate different materials in a piece "to weave" a compelling narrative.

Take the project "Debris of History, Matters of Memory" on display in the Arsenale space at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice (until 26th November 2023): the installation - by Brazilian-Paraguayan architect Gloria Cabral and Congolese artist Sammy Baloji, in collaboration with Martinique-born Franco-American art historian Cécile Fromont - consists in a panel, a multi-faced brick structure that can be interpreted as a monument to colonial extraction.

While seen from the front the partition looks flat, the wall has actually got a three-dimensional quality about it: the materials employed were indeed used to create a structure characterized by origami folds.

Besides, the wall incorporates fragmented bricks and vibrant shards of glass and geometric motifs decorate its surface. The partition can therefore be seen as an architectural version of a crafted piece of needlework.

Yet, this is no fancy embroidery: the wall is actually a monument reminding visitors of colonial exploitation, coerced displacement, and the debris of empires. The structure is indeed an aggregate of demolition waste, discarded construction materials and bricks from Brussels, the Belgian capital, itself constructed upon the ruthless exploitation of the Congo.

The interwoven decorative motifs of the structure evoke the architectural textiles found in the historical kingdom of Kongo, as well as their counterparts from Indigenous communities in Brazil.

So, the erected wall, adorned with its intricate motifs, serves as a profound testament to the significance of debris and the remarkable potential of patterns in shaping not only architectural landscapes but also historical narratives and social constructs.

On a wall adjacent to the structure, images explain the genesis of this structure: a meticulously reproduced 17th-century map delineates the coastal regions of Africa and Brazil, tracing the historical routes of salve trade; a slave-trading ship's logbook (from 1786-87) serves as a haunting testimony to the harrowing journeys endured by countless individuals, their lives reduced to mere entries on parchment, while a fragment of woven raffia luxury cloth from the 17th century by an unknown Kongo artist (from Stockholm's Världskulturmuseet - The Museum of World Culture) showcases the artistry of highly skilled craftsmen.

The installation was conceived in collaboration with art historian Cécile Fromont; Cabral and Baloji share an interest with her for studies about the "Tenture des Indes". Currently preserved at Villa Medici in Rome, the "Tapestry of the Indies" was woven by the Royal Manufacture of Gobelins, and sent in 1726 by order of King Louis XV to the French Academy in Rome to adorn the noble floor of its former headquarters located at Palazzo Mancini on Via del Corso (a reproduction of one section of the tapestry is on display  in the Arsenale as part of the "Debris of History" installation).

The tapestries were supposed to serve as a visual foundation of the territory of Brazil, a former Dutch and Portuguese colony, and were based on paintings by Albert Eckhout and Frans Post.

Tasked with meticulously documenting the territory and offering glimpses into the diverse landscapes that defined the region, the tapestries ended up including motifs evoking colonial exploitation (plows, sugarcane, water mills, churches...), raising several questions from the perspective of current debates surrounding issues of racism, the labor of African slaves and colonialism.

Like the "Tapestry of the Indies", "Debris of History" invites us therefore to delve into the multifaceted layers of the past and confront the uncomfortable truths of history, urging us to explore the profound impact of global capitalism and reckon with the indelible social scars left by colonialism and the slave trade.

A Retro-Futurist African Eco-Fiction (with Some Help from Artificial Intelligence): Olalekan Jeyifous's "ACE/AAP" @ The 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia

In 2016 Olalekan Jeyifous imagined a futuristic vision of Lagos: the Nigerian-born Brooklyn-based architecturally trained artist created images of his vision using 3D computer models inspired by the materials and construction techniques observed in real settlements in Lagos. Then he proceeded to seamlessly merge his models with real photographs.

The results of this project inspired by utopian and dystopian metropolises were captivating: Jeyifous imagined one the densest and fastest-growing cities in the world as a high-tech metropolis in which dilapidated skyscrapers, rising from shantytowns, incorporated in their structures natural materials and mechanical parts, blending diverse styles.

Fast-forward to 2023 and Jeyifous is still very much concerned about the future of Africa and he's also playing with different techniques to conjure it up.

At the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice (until 26th November), he came up indeed with a new project, an installation entitled "ACE/AAP", on display in the Central Pavilion at the Giardini. In an imaginative twist, Jeyifous, accompanied this project with an alternative narrative of post-independence Africa.

Through his vibrantly coloured sci-fi images and intricate models, he envisioned a techno-ecological retro-future emerging from the remnants of colonial rule and wrote a gripping narrative worthy of a novel.

The project primarily serves as a conceptual exploration, offering an alternative glimpse into the future of a continent and a country that deserve more representation.

Jeyifous' narrative takes place in an imaginary space and time: following the Pan-African movement and the wave of African decolonization, imperialist structures focused on economic exploitation and resource extraction were dismantled. At the same time, various local environmental organizations across the continent converged and united under the collective banner of the African Conservation Effort (ACE).

In an effort to restore the ecological balance of Africa's ecoregions, ACE leveraged indigenous knowledge systems to establish sophisticated networks integrating renewable energy and green technologies.

At the forefront of these endeavors there is the All-Africa Protoport (AAP), a groundbreaking system for generating renewable and sustainable energy. This innovative infrastructure was designed to facilitate swift aid delivery but also to enable efficient land and sea travel within and between continents.

As the AAP gained prominence, it facilitated socioeconomic and environmental collaboration across the entire continent and extended beyond borders, fostering a deeper sense of unity and solidarity among the African diaspora.

The AAP eventually evolved into a network of sprawling, environmentally friendly travel hubs strategically positioned near major ports across the globe, including Lagos, Mombasa, Port Said, New York, Los Angeles, Port-Au-Prince and Havana.

One AAP is located in Zambia's Western Province, specifically within the Barotse Floodplain. This unique AAP complex integrates tidal, solar, and algal energy systems in a harmonious manner to preserve biodiversity, enhance food security, and support agricultural productivity. These sustainable practices are seamlessly integrated with the proprietary AAP travel systems.

Jeyifous recreated inside the Central Pavilion at the Giardini the sleek Barotse Floodplain's AAP imaginary travel lounge: the space is conceived as a sort of immersive tableau featuring sculptures, digital media and experimental videos, set in a protoport.

While a screen occupying one wall, looks at researches, energy systems and achievements, the rest of the room, in a green and yellow palette, displays intricate models of futuristic settlements, travel hubs and vehicles.

A profound sense of boundless optimism prevails here as Jeyifous almost envisions another version of Wakanda - the technologically advanced fictional-state created by Marvel Comics, untouched by the shackles of colonization.

In this place everything is surrounded by lush vegetation and the people portrayed move on futuristic zero-emission machines, using an imaginary sustainable rapid transport network that seems to include hovercrafts and submarines.

On the walls a series of panels display futuristic means of transports and portraits of people, both men and women, working in the AAP hub. Some of them are members of marine or biology expeditions, others are eco-futurists and researchers - all of them are part of Jeyifous's travelogue.

Besides, all these imaginary characters look elegant in their uniforms (in some cases adorned with Zack McCune's symbols and graphic designs used here as insignia) that reveal their roles inside the hub, embodying Jeyifous's retro-futurist vision and the spirit of this unique world.

While for his Lagos project Jeyifous used 3D computer models and photographs, here he employed a collage technique, combining 3D renderings, photos and Artificial Intelligence agglomeration.

He defines this style "Proto Realism", a label that perfectly fits since these images look like realistic illustrations, but, at the same time, they have something uncanny about them.

Some elements clearly reveal the images were created using Artificial Intelligence: often the silhouette of the figures looks elongated and the hands are slightly deformed, elements that make you wonder if the images were generated before the advent of Midjourney v5. In some cases the hands are missing and in one case a bag carried by a model seems to be suspended from an invisible hand.

The project won the Silver Lion at the Architecture Biennale, with the following motivation: "a multimedia installation that explores a worldbuilding practice that expands public perspectives and imaginations, offering visions of a decolonized and decarbonized future."

Interestingly enough, the jury never mentioned that the images accompanying the project were made employing AI, but acknowledged the originality of the project (it must be said that Jeyifous re-elaborated the images, and also added painted brushes to create a more arty effect on the images).

Throughout its history, the Venice Biennale has served as a platform for artists pushing the boundaries of creative expression, exploring novel frontiers with innovative materials and techniques.

This was the very first time that a project that employed Artificial Intelligence to generate images has been presented during an architecture event and the first time it has won one of the main awards at a major international event.

This Silver Lion creates a precedent, proving that AI can be integrated in projects and installations showcased at a prestigious biennale. It is maybe too early to wonder if artists employing Artificial Intelligence in their works will be admitted at the Venice Art Biennale next year or if, one day, we will see art exhibitions including a section or a series of awards expressly dedicated to artists and architects integrating AI in their works.

Regardless of what may happen at the next art biennale, this Silver Lion unlocks fresh avenues for artists who incorporate AI into their creative process, demonstrating that disregarding its potential would mean neglecting a future offering infinite inspirations and boundless possibilities.

As for Jeyifous, he may consider venturing into the realm of gaming or film design: through his architectural sci-fi projects (that we hope one day will turn into reality) he creates indeed very compelling experiences that allow visitors to fully immerse themselves in the intricacies of his visionary world.

Artificial Intelligence's Ambivalence: Threat or Salvation, Nurturer or Menace?

The general opinion towards Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to be ambivalent: progressing faster than expected and by now able to generate images, videos, texts, voices and music, AI is proving an asset in healthcare.

At the same time it is a cause for concern among artists worried about copyright issues and plagiarisms; it is scaring teachers and lecturers about its impact on students' learning, journalists about fake contents that may be generated using AI, and policy makers and governments about the catastrophic scenarios it may open, spreading misinformation, political destabilization and playing a key role in elections (in a way that has already happened, remember the Cambridge Analytica investigation that revealed that the personal data of millions of users harvested from Facebook, were used to create political and psychological profiles and manufactured targeted ads, influencing users' behavior?).

This week, the Center for AI Safety issued a statement affirming "Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war". The statement was signed by hundreds of executives and academics: signatories from different fields included the chief executives of Google's DeepMind, ChatGPT developer OpenAI, and AI startup Anthropic.

In the last few months, there have often been calls by industry experts to regulate AI: in April a letter posted on the website of non-profit organisation Future of Life Institute, co-signed by Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang among the others, demanded to take a six-months break in Artificial Intelligence research (probably to give the time to some of the signatories, Musk included, to develop their own AI systems…). 

At the moment, the calls for regulation of this technology highlight the fact that AI poses a risk to society: in May, Geoffrey Hinton, "the godfather of AI", resigned from Google due to concerns about AI's "existential risk". According to these alerts, Artificial Intelligence has indeed the potential to exert a substantial impact on job markets, jeopardize the well-being of millions of people, exploit disinformation and increase discrimination (all things that we, as human beings, excel at doing...).

The European Union (EU) is working on legislation that could potentially become the first set of regulations governing AI. The suggested legislation may impose a requirement on generative AI companies, compelling them to disclose the copyrighted materials employed in training their systems to generate text and images.

Yet the announcement wasn't welcomed by some of the Artificial Intelligence experts. On 24th May, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, announced they may consider leaving Europe if they could not comply with the upcoming Artificial Intelligence regulations by the European Union, which Altman - who is actually also one of the signatories of the "Mitigating the risk of extinction" statement - criticized as "over-regulating". On 26th May, Altman, causing more confusion as he seems to want to mitigate the risk of extinction without complying to norms, backtracked and stated on Twitter, "We are excited to continue to operate here and, of course, have no plans to leave."

Actually it's not only the experts behind AI who seem to be generating some degree of confusion about it: the general consensus advises against the extensive use of AI, citing associated risks. Yet, paradoxically, numerous companies are actively embracing these transformative systems.

In January, for example, Getty Images filed a lawsuit in the United States against Stability AI, creators of open-source AI art generator Stable Diffusion. The stock photography giant accused Stability AI of engaging in a "brazen infringement of Getty Images' intellectual property on a staggering scale." Allegedly, Stability AI illicitly copied over 12 million images from Getty Images' extensive database, "without permission ... or compensation ... as part of its efforts to build a competing business". This was deemed as a violation of both copyright and trademark protections that Getty Images fiercely safeguards. Then, in March, Getty Images announced it was collaborating with global tech company NVIDIA, to develop two generative AI models using NVIDIA Picasso to customize text-to-image and text-to-video foundation models and develop visuals using fully licensed visual content.

There are also companies using AI as a means to restructure their organizations and cut human-related costs. At the beginning of May, film and TV writers in the US started a nationwide industrial action asking for structural changes in studio operations and pay increases.

One of their pressing concerns revolved also around the potential misuse of Artificial Intelligence. Worried about companies using AI to replace human creativity, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) called for regulations on AI usage, aiming to prevent its utilization in writing or rewriting literary material and as a source material and urged for the prohibition of using writers' work to train AI models. However, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) rejected these proposals, opting not to make immediate commitments regarding this matter. This stance has raised concerns as it sounds like a veiled attempt to reduce the number of human writers as quickly as possible.

But there are other examples of companies using AI to cut costs: at the beginning of May IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg News that the company will pause hiring for roles as roughly 7,800 jobs could be replaced by AI in the coming years. Krishna estimated that 30 percent of non-customer-facing roles could be replaced by AI and automations in five years.

In May BuzzFeed shut down its news division, dismissed 15 percent of its workforce and announced it will be "leaning into" AI and embracing more "AI inspired content". The explanation behind this choice? Reducing budgets and cutting down on other expenses. BuzzFeed will also expand its Creator program, which brings together influencers and advertisers with the company brand.

Also translators have turned into the casualties of the cutting cost frenzy: before the great advent of AI this year there were already companies that, to speed up processes, provided their translators with automatic translations that could be incorporated in their texts if they were deemed correct or dismissed or edited if they wanted (but in these cases the translation was still paid in full, the automatic translation was just used as a draft).

Besides, there have always been specific translating programs employed by professional translators (and allowed by most agencies and clients) that allow you to speed up your work by providing automatic translations of repeated terminology (the most famous is Trados). Yet many agencies have started using AI without admitting it (which is unfair towards translators, but towards clients as well, who may not want their documents to be divulged).

Nowadays rather than translating or proofreading jobs you get offered "post editing of Machine Translation" jobs claimed to  be "more time consuming than proofreading but not as long as translation" (as explained to me by a project manager of the London-based branch of Language Line Solutions) and therefore paid less than a translation, but more than a proofreading session.

Yet not all attempts at replacing humans with AI were successful. A recent example is the US-based National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), which, a few months ago, terminated its entire staff and substituted them with an AI-assisted chatbot named Tessa. The latter was allegedly created with the support of psychology researchers and Cass AI, a company that develops AI chatbots focused on mental health. The six paid employees, responsible for supervising approximately 200 volunteers, were substituted a few days after they successfully formed a union.

Now, while it may be easy to replace a human being with a chatbot to deal with very basic (and boring) customer service issues, it is utterly demented to think that a chatbot can deliver tailored advice for an eating disorder helpline. Indeed, Tessa started providing harmful information including offering advice on how to lose weight and limit calories. Eventually, Tessa incurred in the same fate of her human colleagues and was taken down. After all, the support and information that a human being who may have gone through the same issues the callers are going through is simply invaluable.

Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis who played a role in the development of the chatbot, explained that "Tessa" was conceived as a means to increase the accessibility of eating disorder prevention. In a post on NEDA's website (which has been removed since then), Fitzsimmons-Craft expressed her thoughts on the chatbot, admitting the decision to opt for the bot was dictated by costs. "Programs that require human time and resources to implement them are difficult to scale, particularly in our current environment in the US where there is limited investment in prevention," she explained.

It becomes therefore clear that at the moment AI is not directly causing extinction, but human beings are causing extinction through AI by replacing workers with AI tools.

Any kind of progress implies the loss of certain jobs and the creation of others and it is inevitable that AI will do the same, but this doesn't mean that we have to eliminate them before we understand which jobs will be lost or in which ways we can implement certain systems.

We are indeed at a confusing stage in which new professions linked with Artificial Intelligence are still being created, while AI systems are being used to cut positions and costs, rather than to understand in which ways AI can be integrated in certain industries and how certain tasks (data entries and analysis or administrative operations, for example) can be optimized through AI.

Let's face it, not all tasks can be automated: yes, you can translate in any language a basic message or letter with ChatGPT; but you can't ask it to provide translations of a film subtitles because it will never be able to grasp the human nuances in the target language and, not being able to actually see the film, it will not provide credible translations of its dialogues.

In the same way, a chatbot can speed up certain procedures in fields like e-shopping, but it can't be used to provide psychological support for people in urgent need. In healthcare AI can analyse millions of scans in a relatively short time, but it will still need a human to come up with a diagnosis (mind you, in treating women's pains, usually dismissed by male doctors as caused by mysterious psychological/psychosomatic ailments, AI could actually prove to be less biased…). In a nutshell, AI still lacks human skills and touch, but AI possesses the capacity to revolutionize our existence for the better.

AI can be a true marvel if used responsibly: it may not be advisable to use ChatGPT to write an essay, but the system can provide writers, researchers and translators with a vast range of synonyms and antonyms, acting like an instant Thesaurus, helping them to avoid repetitions or to summarise and reduce to bullet points longer documents.

At the moment it is therefore of the utmost importance to understand how we can harness the extraordinary capabilities of AI, use them for our collective benefit and identify which areas can be regulated with dedicated norms and laws. Another crucial aspect to address is the establishment of comprehensive training programs at various levels, aimed at equipping individuals with the skills required to thrive in an economy driven by AI.

At this stage it is hard to say if civilization will end because of AI or because of human beings, after all, in between wars, violence, murders, pollution and pandemics, it becomes apparent that we, as stewards of humanity, fall short of being exemplary preservers of our own species.

The key, as suggested also in a previous post about AI and the labour market, lies in attaining a harmonious equilibrium between humans and machines. The secret lies in comprehending how we can harness this technology to advance our own interests, generating progress instead of succumbing to panic, while monitoring those in positions of authority to make sure they exploit AI for optimization and not for the annihilation of jobs.

Transformative Fashion Narratives of Resilience: Dzhus A/W 23

We are human beings and therefore dynamic entities, ever-evolving and in constant flux, in transition like unfinished canvases, like perfect or botched masterpieces perpetually in progress. Irina Dzhus' designs flawlessly embody this perpetual state of mutability that characterizes our existence. The previous collections of the Ukrainian designer included indeed creations that could be transformed and readapted to the needs and moods of the wearer thanks to ingeniously placed metal zippers, automatic buttons and press studs.

Yet there was a moment in the life of the designer that marked another and more tragic transformation - the Russian invasion of her home country in February 2022 reshaped Dzhus' life. When the war started in Ukraine, the designer moved to Poland with her pets, leaving her husband and business partner Anatolii Elgert behind as martial law prohibited men to leave the country.

Since then, the production of her collections were split between Poland, Ukraine and Germany, and her experience of the war informed her designs, including her A/W 23 collection "Transit".

Showcased a few months ago during Berlin Fashion Week, Dzhus' new collection features a series of multifaceted garments in monochrome hues, crafted to serve diverse purposes, weather conditions and dress codes.

At Berlin Fashion Week, Dzhus presented a performance with an emphasis on metamorphosis, with models transforming their garments in front of the audience.

The theme of transformability in this collection references the human condition in general, but mainly hints at the drastic changes endured by the Ukrainian people.

The designer thought about how the war has divided every Ukrainian's life into a "before" and an "after". Yet, facing circumstances beyond their control, Ukrainians showed remarkable resilience.

Over a year has gone since the beginning of the war, but, through adversity, Ukrainians still emerge as strong and with their gaze fixed resolutely upon the future.

Thinking about her home country and compatriots, who endured profound loss and embraced new incarnations of themselves in the pursuit of survival, Dzhus reinvented them as superheroes and looked at the changes they went through in a symbolic way.

In Dzhus' A/W 23 collection, dresses, jackets and coats incorporate scarves and hoods that can be used to form cocooning shapes around the body; sleeves turn into hoods and vests while a hat can be turned into a bag, a bag into a long dress and trousers can transmute into dresses and jackets.

A T-shaped monumental white garment almost worthy of a guardian angel yet in reality not by sacred and ethereal garments but by bulletproof-vests and protective gear, incorporates multiple pockets, turning into a symbolic emblem of unwavering protection for a nation that cannot be broken; in other cases aggregates of pockets give shape to a design.

The pockets and bags in this collection are allegorical vessels: they symbolize indeed the arduous evacuation endured by millions of Ukrainians who carried with them only that which they could carry.

At times, as Irina Dzhus explains in the notes accompanying her collection, they preferred to carry things that were symbolic to them rather than practical stuff.

Rather than architectural designs, Dzhus created through inventive patterns tectonic silhouettes in which panels of fabrics form layered silhouettes that can expand into space or contract and even reduced to the smallest possible size and even turned into jewelry. Textured cottons, diaphanous rayons and light knits are combined in this collection in which utilitarian unisex silhouettes prevail.

In the video lookbook for this collection, accompanied by a soundscape of air raid sirens that chill your blood, the designer also shows how each garment can be transformed through strategically placed zips.

Collections inspired by mutations and transformations or migration flows are not new in fashion: Hussein Chalayan created throughout the seasons, transformative designs and costumes.

Besides, his "After Words" (A/W 2000-01) collection was inspired by people fleeing from Kosovo during the war and carrying their possessions on their backs. Models during that show removed the covers from chairs and turned them into dresses; in the most iconic part of that show a model stepped into the centre of a 1950s-style coffee table, lifted it up and transformed it into a skirt. In this way the refugee theme was linked to the idea of hiding and camouflaging valuable possessions or carrying them along in flight.

The final meaning of Dzhus's collection is not just a physical transformation, instead, but it is a metaphor, an evocative allusion to the metamorphosis of the human spirit under the implacable influence of extraordinary circumstances, often demanding heart-rending choices.

The utilitarian approach and the multi-purpose transformations in this collection assumed a more heightened conceptual meaning than in the brand's previous designs such as the A/W 2022 collection, that was accompanied by a photoshoot featuring models in dimly lit surroundings, a reference to the blackouts that have become norm in war-stricken Ukraine.

Dzhus recently resumed production in Kyiv and, since the war began, has been donating 30% of its profit to the Ukrainian army and to animal shelters.

Image credits for this post

All images in this post copyright DZHUS.

Architectural Designs with Function: Claire McCardell's "Popover" Dress Vs Bruno Munari's "Bookshelf" Vest

When discussing architectural designs, our minds often envision rigorously cut minimalist pieces. However, it's important to remember that functionality is a key aspect of architectural fashion. Bearing that in mind, let's explore two types of functional designs that incorporate pockets, combining style and practicality.

The first one is Claire McCardell's "Popover" dress. Conceived as the answer to a challenge by Harper's Bazaar that consisted in creating a dress that could transition from housework to cocktail party, the design was launched in 1942. The Second World War prompted countries to introduce fabric rationing, so at the time there was a desire for utility-wear and adaptable designs.

Moving from practical pockets in men's clothing, McCardell came up with a simple topstitched dress in grey fabric with a wraparound front, a deep pocket and an attached oven mitt (it was sold attached to the dress).

The publicity photo accompanying it (by Louise Dahl-Wolfe) showed a model wearing the "Popover" dress with one hand in an oven mitt and the other in the pocket, with the headline "I'm doing my own work - and what's more I'm doing it well" that referred to women whose servants had gone into war work, leaving them to cope with chores alone.

Originally the design was indeed designed to be "popped over" something nicer when doing housework; then it became a dress in its own right, ideal to be worn alone as a house dress or a beach wrap, that could easily transition also into the evening. One advert described it as "the original utility fashion", the ideal design to be "equally at home in the kitchen, at play or outdoors".

Sold at $6.95, the dress, classified as a "utility" garment, was a success: in the first year of production Townley (McCardell worked as an assistant to Robert Turk at Townley Frocks, but took his place after the designer's untimely death) sold 75,000 dresses and the design was acclaimed by the American Fashion Critics Association.

Outlasting the war, the patented "Popover" remained in the market for years: from then on McCardell added a version of the dress in every subsequent collection she did, reissuing it in different fabrics, including denim and gingham.

McCardell may not have had the skills of French couturiers, but she didn't need them as she was into more versatile and relaxed designs that catered for the average American women. Her clothes that achieved practicality through inventiveness, were affordable and guaranteed functionality - you could indeed use the pocket of the "Popover" dress to carry around the bare necessities and the buttons around the waist to attach the oven mitt to the dress while cooking. Design with function was the principle that Bruno Munari also had in mind when the Mantua-based publishing house Corraini asked him to design a display stand to showcase the pocket-sized volumes of the "Block Notes" series.

Rather than coming up with an interior design pieces, Munari created a vest incorporating different-sized pockets in a variety of textiles and textures that prompted the wearers to experience knowledge through all their senses, from sight to touch.

The bookshelf-vest has now been re-edited through a collaboration between Corraini Edizioni and sustainable design brand Blue of a Kind.

The 1992 version of the vest,  in gray fabric and with pockets that closed with buttons, was reinvented in two colours, in "Dilma" pink (named after Munari's wife) and in upcycled blue denim fabric recovered from vintage garments and incorporating responsibly produced textiles and yarns such as Tencel™ Luxe and Refibra by Lenzing. The design (available to pre-order – delivery starts in July) comes with a booklet explaining its history and with a few books by Munari books to slip in the pockets. 

 

The convergence of function and practicality is evident in these two thoughtfully designed creations. Can you think of an architectural design that has consistently been reissued and that remains popular specifically for its functionality? It's not an easy task to find it, actually, which proves that architecturally functional designs that truly stand the test of time are not so common.

Spatial Perspectives for Theatres & Fashion: "Luciano Baldessari. Architectures for the Stage" @ The Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice

Visiting the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice requires some planning. Visitors are required to book in advance and through the foundation's site or, as an alternative, book once they get there, but exclusively online, so it is vital to have a mobile device with an Internet connection with you and, obviously, a credit card.

Tours are guided by a facilitator escorting the visitors around the building, while explanations or historical notions are delivered via an app on an individual smartphone that visitors receive when the tour starts.

This arrangement is in place as the Fondazione includes a functioning library and a research centre, besides the venue can be hired for private events, so visitors are required to maintain silence and refrain from making excessive noise. The arrangement also implies that, if there is an exhibition in some of the spaces of the Fondazione, there are only a few minutes to see it, which can be rather annoying.

At the moment, for example, there is an exhibition of drawings by Luciano Baldessari in one of the cells (the Fondazione is located in the spaces previously occupied by a Benedictine monastery) along the Manica Lunga Library.

Restored by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi, the Manica Lunga was built in the 15th century by Giovanni Buora and served as the dormitory of the Benedictine order on the Venetian island of San Giorgio (the entrances to the cells where the monks used to sleep can still be seen along the narrow central corridor of the Manica Lunga).

"Luciano Baldessari. Architetture per la scena" (Luciano Baldessari. Architectures for the stage, until 26th November in conjunction with the Biennale Architettura 2023), actually features drawings for a variety of projects and also includes his Luminator mannequin-lamp.

Curated by Anna Chiara Cimoli, lecturer at the University of Bergamo, the compact exhibition occupies only one room of the ex-dormitory and showcases the artistic contributions of an influential yet often overlooked figure in 20th-century architecture and design.

This project aims to shed light on his innovative approach and delve into his involvement with the historical avant-gardes across Europe and the United States.

Luciano Baldessari was born in 1896 in Rovereto where he completed his studies. He trained in Rovereto as a Futurist artist at Luigi Comel's school, alongside Depero, then in Vienna (where he completed technical studies in 1916), and Milan (where he graduated from the Politecnico in 1922).

From 1922 to 1926, he spent an extended period in Berlin, where he apprenticed, becoming acquainted with the great artists, actors, scenographers, and architects of the time. It was during this period that he consistently worked in theater, creating vibrant set designs.

After a brief spell in Paris, he returned to Milan in 1929, where he would remain until the outbreak of World War II. Around this period he worked on a series of installation including the Silk Exhibition at Villa Olmo in Como (1927), the Bernocchi Pavilion at the 10th International Fair in Milan (1929), Bar Craja (1930), and the Ultimoda DAF store (1935-1936). In the 1940s, Baldessari moved to New York, where he mainly worked as a set designer for the theatre.

Largely forgotten, probably because he was an eclectic figure who refused to be pigeonholed and to belong to associations and corporations, Baldessari is now being rediscovered through exhibitions and through the digitalisation of his drawings and sketches (sourced from the collection of Milan-based CASVA-Centro di Alti Studi per le Arti Visive).

This comprehensive overview at the Fondazione Cini highlights Baldessari's notable contributions to set design from the 1920s to the 1940s, showcasing his collaborations with renowned figures, including Max Reinhardt (for Shakespeare's "Hamlet", 1923-24, and George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan", 1924), Riccardo Zandonai ("Giuliano", 1927), Tatiana Pavlova and Luigi Chiarelli.

In the exhibition at the Cini Foundation there are also sketches for Rossini's "Guglielmo Tell" (1929), Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author" (1932) and "Henry IV" (1944) and Claude Debussy's "Pelléas et Mélisande" (1941-44) for the Mexico City Theatre.

Baldessari designed dynamic sets and scenes in which chiaroscuro techniques were employed to animate the various spaces and environments. The architect also had a penchant for creating on his sets hidden spaces around corners and curves, playing in this way with perspectives and building more complex environments.

There are several connections between Baldessari and fashion: between the two World Wars, the architect worked on installations for the textile industry.

This connection started after he met in 1927 textile industrialist Carlo De Angeli Frua, who enlisted him to design the Cantoni showroom in Milan (1929), the DAF stand at the 4th Triennale in Monza (1930), the 1st National Fashion Exhibition in Turin (1933), the 5th and 6th Triennale in Milan (1933 and 1936), the DAF Pavilion at the International Fair in Milan (1936), and the window shop of Ultimoda DAF in Milan (1935-1936).

The work for the textile manufacturing company represented for Baldessari an opportunity to create commercial installations with a theatrical twist about them. The architect employed fabrics to dynamically shape the space he was designing, as if they were key elements of the theatrical mise-en-scène. Besides, there is also an arty intention behind his textile installations: the fluttering silk fabrics in the Silk Exhibition at Villa Olmo in Como (1927), the long drapes in the Bernocchi Pavilion at the 10th International Fair in Milan and the Italian Textile Stand at the International Expo in Barcelona (1929) were meant to create vibrant brushstrokes of colour that interacted with the sparse elements of furnishings, softening their angularity.

For Baldessari his textile installations weren't mere structures to display objects, but they themselves were an exhibition. In the space outlined in the sketches and archival photographs, the fabric-carrying mannequins stand out as protagonists of the scene.

In one case (the Como exhibition in 1927) Baldessari employed the sculptural creations of Ukrainian avant-garde sculptor Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko; in others he integrated his Luminator lamp.

The Luminator mannequin-lamp-sculpture (currently produced by Codiceicona) is the perfect synthesis of Baldessari's main interest - blurring the boundaries between dance, theatre, design and fashion as well.

The Luminator was indeed supposed to be a textile support, but looked like a statue, yet it could move as it could rotate and spin like a dancer, but was as functional as a design object should be and could illuminate a space and create unusual light refractions.

Originally presented at the 1929 Universal Exhibition in Barcelona, it paid homage to the Futurist movement while also reflecting the influences of Bauhaus culture that Baldessari absorbed during his time in Berlin.

Baldessari reached the peak of inventive complexity in the visionary drawings of 1940 for Elizabeth Arden's Fashion Theater in New York: some of them are included in this exhibition and show a theater space conceived in a classical manner with a frontal stage but enriched with pictorial inserts on the ceiling and side walls.

Baldessari populated Arden's fashion theatre with metaphysical mannequins and mannequin-shaped Luminators, elements that created a polysymphonic composition.

Other more scenographic drawings depict overlapping levels, axonometric cross-sections that introduce fantasy universes populated by female figures in long dresses and wide-brimmed hats and strange animals.

A tripartite drawing shows an exhibition system (possibly for fashion accessories) with zenithal lighting, that pre-dated the use of this solution in art exhibitions organised in the '50s.

Even though, this is an extremely compact event, it offers some insights into the life and works of Luciano Baldessari, inviting visitors to explore the intersections of art, design, and architectural innovation that defined his career.

Thinking you may miss it? Don't despair: the materials on display at the Cini Foundation are preserved in the Baldessari Archive at CASVA, and most of them can be checked online. In fact the archive allows to discover even more works - including projects for textile fairs, designs for shops such as the shoe store Calzaturificio di Varese, and fashion events like the Fashion Exhibition at Venice's Hotel Excelsior in 1928 - that may prove inspiring especially for designers interested in developing spaces with a theatrical twist about them for retail, trade shows, and expos.

Image credits for this post

All images by Anna Battista except:

7. Hamlet, 1923-1924
Watercolor ink and watercolor on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Theatrical set design for Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Act I, Scene V), for Max Reinhardt, not realized.

8. Henry IV, 1930
Tempera on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Theatrical set design for Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello, not realized.

12. Giuliano, 1927
Pastel on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Theatrical set design for Giuliano by Riccardo Zandonai (Act II), not realized.

13. Il vascello fantasma, 1928
Watercolor and pencil on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Theatrical set design for Il vascello fantasma by E. Lothar-Richter, performed at Teatro Olimpia in Milan on June 25, 1928. Directed by Tatiana Pavlova.

15. Modernità, 1925
Pencil on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Cinematic set design for Modernità, not realized.

16. The Knights of Ekebù, 1929
Watercolor ink on beige paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Theatrical set design for The Knights of Ekebù by Riccardo Zandonai, not realized.

17 - 18. DAFMI stand, Italian Fashion Exhibition, Turin, 1933

19. Bernocchi Pavilion and Luminator, International Fair of Milan, 1929

23 - 24. Elizabeth Arden's Fashion Theater, 1940
Pencil on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Design for Elizabeth Arden's Fashion Theater in New York.

26. Henry IV, 1944
Tempera on paper, CASVA-Comune di Milano.
Theatrical set design for Henry IV by Luigi Pirandello, not realized.

Glowing Spectacle: Inspiring Phosphorescent Nuances in Carmelo Bene's Salome (1972)

Nicolás García Uriburu, a pioneer of land and ecological art, made an artistic intervention in Venice in June 1968. Using an ecologically harmless organic dye developed by NASA for scientific purposes called Fluorescein, he died the waters of Venice's Grand Canal green.

This action, although not officially part of the 34th Venice Biennale program, was carried out in conjunction with the event to draw attention to the relationship between nature and civilization and to promote ecological consciousness as an integral part of culture.

Through his action, the artist transformed the landscape of the Italian city for a single day, as the waters of the Grand Canal glowed in fluorescent green until the dye gradually dissipated with the ebbing tide.

At the moment of writing this piece, authorities have launched instead an investigation into the origin of a peculiar phosphorescent green liquid that surfaced on Sunday morning around Venice's Rialto Bridge. The mysterious occurrence sparked different conjectures, ranging from potential pollution sources to the involvement of climate activists (though it would be fascinating if it were caused by luminescent bacteria, it's likely attributable to a dye used to trace water leaks).

Despite their association with synthetic substances and their potentially suspicious appearance, phosphorescent shades possess a captivating and inspiring quality.

Uriburu's intervention in Venice can prompt an imaginative exploration into the potential of such shades, or you can maybe check out other artworks or even films in which glowing luminescent hues dominate, such as Salome (1972) by Carmelo Bene.

The story is taken from a passage in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew about the martyrdom of John the Baptist. John warned Herod about the immoral nature of his union with Herodias (who had been married to Herod's brother).

During a banquet held for Herod's birthday, Salome, Herodiad's daughter, danced for the guests. Herod liked her so much that he offered her anything she desired in return and her mother suggested Salome to ask for John the Baptist's head.

Carmelo Bene's film is a sort of hallucination: it opens with a vision of model Veruschka covered in multi-coloured crystals, but the bright and vivid colours of the gems adorning her body soon mutate into even more striking and vibrant hues in a scene featuring Jesus Christ.

During the Last Supper, Jesus turn into a vampire after revealing to the apostles the name of the one who will betray him. While the apostles go mad and begin tearing apart a flock of lambs with their bare hands, Jesus embarks on a long pilgrimage.

This scene has got a Pop Art quality about it: the Last Supper is indeed drenched in bright luminescent shades and the apostles also wear colourful robes. Their sleeves feature a unique twist: they seem indeed to have a flat and rigid lining, creating the illusion the characters are part of a flat tableaux vivant.

These captivating robes exhibit contrasting phosphorescent shades, with one apostle donning a vivid violet robe accentuated by a yellow lining, while another wears a blue robe enhanced by an orange lining.

Then the scene transitions to the grandeur of Herod's palace. Herod has captured Iokanhaan (John the Baptist) who appears as an elderly man, terrified and battered by the slaps of the lustful guests.

The intervention of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, saves the prophet. Salome is astonished by Iokanhaan's brave and nonconformist way of speaking and desires to see him again, despite being called back numerous times by her father's counselor.

From an enormous basket in a pool of water, the Baptist reappears, and upon seeing Salome, he incessantly insults her in the dialect of Puglia. Instead of getting angry, Salome takes pleasure and becomes infatuated with him. After one last outburst of anger, he is locked away, while Herod, surrounded by orgies of food and sex, continues his banquet.

Herod, blinded by desire, manages to persuade Salome to dance for him and the film concludes with the scene of the dance of the seven veils interspersed with images of a Christ attempting self-crucifixion.

Carmelo Bene's film is based on his 1964 stage adaptation of Salome, that featured a set covered in Persian carpets with incense burners, candlesticks and large palm plants, elements that contributed to create an exotic yet decadent environment.

In the theatrical performance that had some clownish elements and also referenced Elizabethan revenge tragedy, the costumes revolved around a red palette.

The range of colours became more vibrant as the stage adaptation of Salome underwent a  transformation for the big screen.

For the film Bene moved from Oscar Wilde's unfinished "La Sainte Courtisane" and "Salome"; besides, he also took inspiration from the figure of Salome in Jules Laforgue's "Moralités légendaires".

The three texts generate here a proliferation of characters and anachronistic effects. Here we have the opposition between Myrrhina (Verushka) and Salome (Donyale Luna); the continuous appearance of the Christ-Vampire (Franco Leo); the dual nature of Herodias (portrayed by Lydia Mancinelli and Alfiero Vincenti), the improbable Iokanaan expressing himself in a southern Italian dialect (Giovanni Davoli) and Herod (Carmelo Bene).

In the film Salome is initially the object of Herod's gaze and desire, but everything changes rapidly and soon she takes control over Herod. Watched, desired and objectified by the Tetrarch throughout the entire feast, Salome turns towards the end of the film into its director and cinematographer.

Shot in Cinecittà and showcased at the 33rd Venice International Film Festival, the film caused a scandal as it was deemed blasphemous. Yet this hallucinated, multifaceted and baroque film with some kitsch and grotesque twists proves fascinating for its frantic editing cuts that keep on interrupting the flow of images and for its use of colours and patterns.

In contrast to the Art Nouveau-style illustrations by Beardsley, which accompanied the first English edition of Wilde's text, Bene imagines Herod's feast through Pop Art and neo-Baroque elements.

The film stands out primarily for its abundance of shimmering hues and for its chromatic richness. The costumes and sets by Gino Marotta, featured solarized lighting effects or, in darker scenes, scenic elements that shone like glitter or that incorporated vibrant colors that often seem on the verge of detaching from their objects.

Some examples of these light and chromatic effects include Myrrhina's face covered in colored crystals, but also the representation of the Last Supper, and the glowing madness of Herod's palace, immersed in the darkness but lit up by the fluorescent elements of the set.

The mosaic-like decorative motifs and patterns on the fabrics, on the objects surrounding the characters and on the floor of the space in which they move (often shot from a distance or from above to show us its magnificent phosphorescent decorations), were created using 3M's Scotchlite coloured adhesive tape.

The retroreflective material was cut into squares, triangles and rectangles and applied to the costumes of Herod and his servants, but it was also used to enhance the palm fronds in the background and the objects (chalices, carpets and a chess set) inside Herod's palace.

Besides, reflective materials were employed for the robe of Herodiad, represented like and angel, and for the armours donned by some of the characters populating Herod's palace.

Hit by light, the reflective materials produced the bright and intense colours desired by Bene that stand out very vividly creating an awe-inspiring and disturbing display of luminosity. These resplendent hues, imbued with a captivating brilliance, command attention and evoke a profound sense of visual allure.

The effect is kaleidoscopically mesmerising, it captivates the viewers' gaze and immerses them in a realm of vivid splendor as sometimes a scene is shot in complete darkness, but the elements covered in Scotchlite shine bright enhancing the scenes, illuminating them with garishly vibrant colour and strong contrasts.

The deliberate contrast between the vivid hues and the muted ambiance creates a striking visual tension, enveloping the viewers in a captivating interplay of lights and shadows.

Bene ventured even further to create his mesmerizing visual experience and deftly incorporated in his scenes also enamels on plexiglass, a technique that amplified the visual impact, and employed a masterful command of extreme close-ups, magnifying the smallest of details with meticulous precision. 

The multisensory experience created by all these vivid hues took the viewer on a journey of visual discovery, pre-dating the trend for fluorescent shades that characterised the '80s (think Slava Tsukerman's 1982 Liquid Skies).

The costumes in the film find echoes in the luminous attires seen on the ecclesiastical runway in Fellini's Roma (1972), but they also call to mind the first experiments with phosphorescent materials in fashion and in particular Capucci's 1965 designs embellished with phosphorescent rosary beads. So, let these luminous shades illuminate your imagination and the phosphorescent hues be your muse, guiding you towards new artistic glowing horizons. 

Open for Maintenance: The German Pavilion @ The 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia

Upon stepping into the German Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice (until 26th November 2023), visitors to last year's Art Biennale will experience a peculiar sense of déjà vu.

That's not because the installation in the German Pavilion - entitled "Open for Maintenance" - is inspired by anything they may have seen in Venice in 2022, but it is because the building has been turned into a sort of warehouse storing materials from last year's Biennale.

Inspired by the Instandbesetzung (squatting and maintaining) movement of 1980s Berlin, the curatorial team Arch+ / Summacumfemmer / Büro Julian Grebe collected leftover materials from the 2022 Art Biennale and, with the passion of forensic experts, catalogued and labelled them. Then, neatly arranged and stacked, the materials were displayed in the pavilion.

Organizing a Biennale in Venice, as you may guess, is no mean feat: artworks and exhibition materials must first be shipped to the city; then they are moved to their exhibition locations by cart, hand or boat.

Only a fraction of these materials is then reused as storage locations in the city are scarce and logistics costs sky-high. Most discarded materials go straight to the nearest landfill or recycling facility.

Saving the materials from almost 40 national pavilions and exhibitions from the landfill and moving them to the German Pavilion was a physically demanding process carried out in collaboration with Rebiennale / R3B.

The local platform offers a variety of services and aims at reducing waste and assists curators in the delicate phases of assembling and disassembling the various installations.

There is a bit of everything inside the German Pavilion, from wood from the Switzerland Pavilion to acrylic glass boxes from the Central Pavilion at the Giardini, while the thick black woolen fabric and the structural red and black timber come respectively from the Uruguay and the Chile Pavilion.

Among the most visually striking debris (but also the most polluting ones...) there are the royal blue flocked styrofoam panels and columns from the Israel Pavilion.

As you walk among the stacks of fibre cemented panels, steel pipes, rolls of faux fur and assorted carpets, you start realizing the impact on the environment that the various installations may have and the importance of recycling materials.

Each lot is labelled with a QR code: the materials were indeed inventoried and included in a digital database developed in collaboration with Concular, a Germany-based start-up matching the demand and supply of construction materials.

An undercurrent of dark irony pervades the space: the curatorial team refers indeed to the materials as "spolia" from the other pavilions.

The word refers to the practice of repurposing or reusing architectural elements, remnants, fragments, sculptures, or decorative materials from earlier structures or civilizations in the construction or renovation of new buildings.

Yet the etymology of the word derives from Latin and indicates the act of stripping an enemy of their weapons and armor after a victory and displaying the "spoils" or "booty" of the conquered. Here we are not talking about enemies, but about fellow artists, designers and creative minds, and the glorious "booty" actually amounts to a variety of materials that some of us may consider as worthless.

"Open for Maintenance" is therefore not an exhibition, but a way to transform the pavilion into a productive infrastructure. The curatorial theme maintained the pavilion as it was found, leaving untouched Maria Eichhorn's contribution "Relocating a Structure" for last year's Art Biennale (Eichhorn's intervention revealed the traces of various remodelling stages that transformed the Bavarian Pavilion into the German Pavilion). Yet the team also made some architectural modifications to the space, adding for example a ramp outside the building.

In 1938, the Bavarian Pavilion, originally built in 1909, underwent a transformation by German architect Ernst Haiger to align with Nazi ideology. This resulted in the creation of a monumental architectural structure with one notable feature - the presence of four large fluted Doric columns on its portico, elevated by five steps from the Giardini grounds.

This architectural manifestation proudly embodied an ideology of superiority and power, promoting a vision that excludes and marginalizes bodies other than those deemed "healthy".

The curatorial team addressed this exclusionary aspect by introducing a semicircular access ramp. This feature serves to improve accessibility not only for individuals with reduced mobility but also for cleaning personnel, guards, and technicians who require heavy equipment.

The addition of the ramp creates a new public podium that was activated by the inclusive Forward Dance Company by Lofft - Das Theater, at the Pavilion's opening event.

The team also included a toilet: a sanitary infrastructure was missing in the building and the new all-gender urinal (that offers tools for changing diapers as well) opens a debate on the lack of a sewer system in Venice where most toilets are directly emptied into the canals.

The pavilion now also includes a kitchenette, with walls covered in posters, leaflets, and other communication materials. This space is devised as a communicative switchboard to promote the work surrounding the social struggles by organizations based in Venice and in Germany as well.

There are two other spaces inside the pavilion that will be activated in the next few months: the workshop area and the meeting space.

According to the curatorial team, practicing architecture in future will mean, first and foremost, repairing that which already exists.

Maintenance and repair require tools, knowledge, and techniques and here people will find a variety of tools in a fully equipped workshop space.

The tools will be used during the Maintenance 1:1 workshop program that will carry out a series of interventions involving grassroots organizations from various countries (including the local Assemblea Sociale per la Casa), university students and crafts apprentices who will help to maintain, repair, and care for social infrastructures across Venice.

Participants will upgrade sanitary facilities, build ramps, design furniture for the community, paint fences, and repair roofs.

The program supports existing material and social (infra)structures counteracting the negative effects of Venice's commercialization and actively promoting the social inclusion of underprivileged groups.

The meeting space is instead an area conceived as an exchange opportunity and includes a section that may be of interest to accessory designers: here people can create bags from material leftovers from the 2022 Art Biennale using patterns created by transdisciplinary association Haus der Materialisierung.

The bag making section is a reaction to the waste caused by the tens of thousands of bags that individual pavilions hand out each year.

Those visitors who want to have a rest can instead play with the educational board game Trivial Circuit developed by LXSY Architekten in cooperation with Impact Hub Berlin and Concular, which helps to understand the complex reorganization of the planning processes involved in circular construction.

The bag manufacturing area was the most crowded section of the pavilion during the opening days, proving that pavilions or installations that offer hands-on activities to visitors are always amongst the most popular ones.

The bag making area also made you ponder about future developments and projects about leftover materials from the Biennale. It would indeed be interesting if the Biennale had a shop where people could buy (also in small quantities) leftover materials from previous biennale events (a bit like Spazio Meta in Milan) or objects or accessories made with such materials. 

While this pavilion looked at a series of social issues intrinsic to architecture, from recycling and reusing, to repairing, fostering inclusivity and diversity, not everybody liked the idea of the materials on display.

Patrik Schumacher from Zaha Hadid Architects (maybe upset at not having been invited?), stated in a post on Facebook that the Venice Architecture Biennale is "mislabeled" and "should stop laying claim to the title of architecture" as it "does not show any architecture".

Lamenting the fact that most pavilions do not show the work of architects, Schumacher also stated that the German Pavilion is "filled with piles of construction material". Who knows, maybe he didn't have the time to read all the information accompanying the exhibition and the impact that the workshop programme may have on the city.

Maybe he should remember that the so-called "Architecture Biennale" is not an exclusive club for architects and designers, but it is open to a wide audience (interestingly enough, he didn't complain during previous biennale events that did feature Zaha Hadid Architects and that included a variety of installations and not just architectural projects).

After all, while not all of us may be able to look at a urban plan or at a model of a building with excitement, we all know that architecture has a profound impact on our lives as it shapes the way we live, work, and interact with our surroundings, affecting our physical well-being but also influencings our social dynamics, equity, and inclusivity.

With its focus on recycling and reusing materials, "Open for Maintenance" serves therefore as a reminder of architecture's social responsibility: the project highlights the importance of creating spaces that foster community engagement, promote sustainable practices and cater to diverse needs.

Image credits for this post

All images by Anna Battista except:

1. The new inclusive access ramp to the German Pavilion, Open for Maintenance © Nils Koenning

14 and 15. Performance by Forward Dance Company by Lofft - Das Theater, © Nils Koenning

29. Open for Maintenance © Arch+ / Summacumfemmer / Büro Julian Grebe

Everlasting Plastics: The U.S. Pavilion @ The 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia

A study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials Advances in May, examines the pollution potential of plastic recycling facilities and investigates microplastic pollution in wastewater and in the air from a mixed plastics recycling facility in the UK.

According to the scientists who produced the research, even with a filter installed ,the facility could be releasing up to 75bn plastic particles in each cubic metre of wastewater (the plant was tested before and after the installation of the filtration system that allowed to record a reduction in the concentration of microplastics from 13% to 6%).

Microplastics have by now contaminated the entire planet, and can be found in the most unlikely places, from marine and freshwater bodies to soil; from food to drinking water, from the deepest oceans to the top of Mount Everest. Last year, microplastics were also found in the placentas of pregnant women and in human blood and lungs.

According to this study, the concept of recycling, initially introduced as a potential solution to address the escalating issue of plastic waste, is therefore revealing its limitations rather than providing a definitive resolution. In fact, recycling practices are inadvertently worsening the problem at hand. This point is also highlighted by Greenpeace in the recently released paper "Forever Toxic".

In this report, the organization states that plastics are inherently incompatible with a circular economy and that recycled plastics can be very dangerous for different reasons. When plastics are made with toxic chemicals and then recycled, the toxic chemicals can indeed transfer into the recycled plastics.

Besides, plastics can absorb contaminants via direct contact and through the absorption of volatile compounds, this means that plastic containers for pesticides, cleaning solvents, and other toxic chemicals can contaminate recycled plastic. Last but not least, when plastics are heated in the recycling process, this can generate new toxic chemicals that make their way into the recycled plastics.

Greenpeace's report coincides with the ongoing debates and efforts of 175 nations aiming to establish a potential international global plastics treaty by 2024.

But the lifecycle of plastic, its role in design, architecture and in our lives, is also explored at the US Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice (until 26th November 2023).

The pavilion - embracing Lesley Lokko's theme for this year's biennale, "The Laboratory of the Future" - is turned into a workshop to explore our complex relationship with plastic.

Curated by Tizziana Baldenebro, Executive Director of Cleveland-based nonprofit alternative art organization SPACES, and Lauren Leving, Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa), the "Everlasting Plastics" exhibition at the pavilion presents the work of five artists and designers.

The pavilion is conceived as a sort of platform for the artists and designers involved to engage audiences in considering the role of plastic in our lives and the overabundance of plastic detritus in our waterways, landfills, and streets as a rich resource.

The exhibition opens in the courtyard of the pavilion, with Lauren Yeager's artworks. The Cleveland-based sculptor re-imagined commonplace objects and, using salvaged consumer materials, created a series of assemblages.

Referencing classical art and modernist architectural forms, Yeager's sculptures incorporate once-loved reclaimed items such as unaltered Coleman coolers and children's toys from the Ohio-based company Little Tikes.

The formal sculptures resulting from these domestic pieces end up incorporating relics of personal histories; they point at the ordinary routines of everyday life, but at the same time they are also elevated to art, fluctuating between different contexts.

Upon stepping into the pavilion, the first pieces visitors will see are the ones by Norman Teague. The designer and Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois Chicago, works with common, locally sourced building materials and collaborates with local fabricators to create objects and spaces that explore simplicity and honesty.

Teague's past projects have included consumer products, public sculpture, performances, and specially designed retail spaces. His pieces for the pavilion are made with recycled plastics sourced from households and businesses in Chicago.

In these pieces the plastic is melted, extruded and used to create objects based on Bolga and Agaseke basket-weaving techniques. The resulting designs wouldn't look out of place at major design events such as Milan Design Week or in the window shop of a luxury boutique.

Traditional vessels are reinterpreted through recycled materials to hint at the importance of preserving the cultural memory. These designs also allow Teague to bridge the Global South and the Global North through a diasporic lens. Besides, the bright colors of these objects hint at commercial waste, while their earthy tones reference nature.

Two different rooms are dedicated to the work of Xavi L. Aguirre. The architectural designer, founder, and director of the architectural design practice stock-a-studio and Assistant Professor of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explores the relationship we have with plastic proofing materials employed to hermetically seal us from moisture, heat and other threatening elements.

Moving from theatrical sets and club cultures, Aguirre incorporated these materials in new environments and structures suspended between protection and endangerment.

Architect and Assistant Professor at Northeastern University, Ang Li explored instead the relationship between mass and volume, juxtaposing the properties of a seemingly weightless material with the densities of monumental form.

Hidden layers of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam form a universal membrane within our homes, landscapes and supply chains. Here EPS waste, diverted from landfills is compressed into dense, discrete building blocks that can be read as both commodity and material catalogue.

Borrowing building techniques from the unit systems of waste processing industries, Li established an architecture of accumulation that prompts us to reflect on our systems of valuation, resource and refuse.

Visually speaking, the pieces by Detroit-based multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and educator Simon Anton, are the most intriguing.

Anton collaborates across the fields of architecture, interior design, furniture, art, and jewelry. He is the co-founder of Thing Thing, a design collective that experiments in the transformation of post-consumer, hand-recycled polyethylene plastic sourced from surrounding communities and from industrial manufacturing. He also runs "Transforming Trash," where he works with youth in Detroit to transform community plastic waste into art.

From a distance Anton's works look like giant pretzels covered in multi-coloured topping sprinkles or decorated with millions of Murano glass splinters. Yet, when you get nearer to the pieces, you realise they are not made with any kind of edible or precious material.

Anton devised indeed a process to graft plastic waste onto armatures, and this system allowed the designer to cover urban structures like metal barriers with chips of coloured plastic waste and rethink in this way modern functional and political objects, turning them into ornamental critiques that also offer visitors a heightened tactile experience.

The technique represents a new possibility in a world in which waste plastics are inseparable from the built environment. While being visually striking, these pieces prompt us to consider a future in which architectural environments may end up being covered in plastic, but also at more dreadful possibilities, like our own bodies and in particular our internal organs being colonized by microplastics.

By exploring the cultural ubiquity of plastics and acknowledging that our toxic interdependency is now a global dependency, visitors at the US Pavilion will realise that Du Pont's late '40s slogan "Better Living…through chemistry" is not credible anymore and above all it is definitely not reassuring.

A publication produced in partnership with Columbia Books on Architecture and the City (CBAC) accompanies the exhibition. 

The collection of essays, entitled "Sketches On Everlasting Plastics" (you can read them here), features articles with insights about the history of petrochemical polymers in the US, pieces about the disposability and single-usage of plastic and considerations about the toxicity levels of plastic in our everyday lives (think about how plastic is employed in the healthcare sector as well, so even the most virtuous amongst us end up producing waste materials…).

The essays also look at the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and microplastics, reflect on the connections between fossil fuels with racist, classist and colonial practices and explore the denial of the capacity of plasticity (the capacity to change, to be molded, to transform while retaining self-sameness) to colonial subjects and non-white people.

There's also some food for thought for fashion designers in this anthology: one essay by Sky Cubacub, founder of Rebirth Garments, an activewear line for queer and trans disabled people of all sizes and ages, raises awareness about the challenges of seeking eco-friendly alternatives to petroleum-based fabrics.

In their feature, Sky Cubacub emphasizes the need to address the issue of plastic elimination in various industries, but highlights the scarcity of viable alternatives in the context of disabled accessibility, where viable solutions remain scarce, suggesting that, despite the necessity for change, for the time being such materials may still be necessary in this sector.

The essays serve as a means to enlighten ourselves regarding the toxic chemical association we have with plastic. It is indeed only by facing the paradoxes of plastic head-on that we can understand how to reduce its usage and envision a transformative future where plastics are utilized sparingly, responsibly, and with careful consideration of their associated impacts and advantages.