Goodbye Summer, hello Biennale!
From Venice to London, future living trends. With an eye on social themes.
It's time for the Biennials in Europe: from Venice with its well-established Architecture Biennial (Biennale di Archittettura), now in its 15th year, to the newborn London Design Biennial that makes its début from 7-27 September.
An eye on the future and the new living trends with a focus on social themes and issues of global importance. The two European Biennials speak the same language: sustainability, recycling and reuse, migration, technological innovation, pollution, water scarcity, energy, conflict, social equality and human rights. Architecture and socially active design, that addresses the hot issues of life and modernity.
The title chosen for the Venice event is Reporting from the front: architecture and its social role, its ability to offer concrete responses to the emergencies of our societies and countries in need.
London has opted for Utopia by Design: the theme chosen to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the publication of the famous “Utopia” essay by Tommaso Moro, the highest expression of the Renaissance dream of a peaceful society in which culture dictates the life of men. Part of the London Design Festival, the new biennial will see 30 countries from 6 continents addressing the role of design in the future.
What are the trends for daily life? What are the future trends?
The projects hosted in the British capital are designed to offer a personal interpretation of the Utopia theme with design teams that include architects, designers, scientists, writers and artists who propose utopian solutions to the problems of our life.
From Taiwan comes the Eatopia installation that celebrates diversity and the pursuit of an utopian state, offering a unique culinary experience accompanied by immersion performance.
Created by the architect Rain Wu, the designer Shikai Tseng and the chef Chung-Ho Tsai, Eatopia explores the cultural history of Taiwan through food, inspired by the historical events of the country in terms of migration and cultural integration between the different ethnic groups. Diverse cultural conflicts have made Taiwan a multi-faceted country, but its historical complexity often generates discussion as to its real identity.
The visitor is invited to taste an experimental menu with 5 dishes, designed specifically to export the creative melting pot of the identities of Taiwan, within a faux-forest accompanied by the sounds of nature. The dishes serve to remind us of how important these differences are in forging the identity of the country, and to reflect on the concept of an ideal future society characterised by integration and a strong social bonds.
From food to the perfect kitchen and from London to Venice.
The Venetian kermesse offers an unforgettable installation for gourmets that promotes the concept of the kitchen, to sharpen food preparation techniques and build public awareness of the importance of this space in our daily life.
As part of the Kitchen Home Project, to explore the potential of our future domestic spaces, the Rotterdam MVRDV architectural and urban planning studio presents a completely transparent kitchen: Infinity Kitchen.
The installation, a satellite event open to the public until 30 September at the Università IUAV di Venezia Ca’tron, is a celebration of food and cooking as part of a project created by Weng Ling from the Beijing Centre for the Arts (BCA), MVRDV, the architect Kengo Kuma and the artist Au Yeung Ying Chai.
Infinity Kitchen was created with clear objectives: enrich the culinary experience, making food preparation easier and improving awareness of the quantity of waste.
Transparencies that allow us to see readily the quantity of food available: no doors or drawers to open, everything to hand and on display. Food as well as waste on display: shedding light on what is generally invisible in the traditional kitchen. It exalts rather than hides the sides of food preparation that may be considered less attractive.
A new perspective that encourages us to be even more passionate about food and the cooking experience. Perhaps just a part of a wider project that is focused on accessibility, as explained by Winy Maas the co-founder of MVRDV:
«I see this kitchen as part of a larger dream, part of a space, if not a city, that is transparent and so accessible. Imagine if not only your kitchens, but also the walls of the house and those of your neighbours. This would create endless possibilities in our cities. You could create a view towards the mountains or the sea from within your claustrophobic spaces».
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