The US Pavilion’s curator Cathy Lang Ho took the theme Common Ground to heart, inviting 127 participants to exhibit, display, or otherwise engage with the biennale. Each one of the projects embraced something that architects have been developing strongly in the USA over the past few years: the DIY, the ad-hoc, along with vernacular and community-centered actions. These elements don’t always result in architecture in the proper sense, but all engage spatial issues in a broad way. Banners designed by M-A-D studio used color-coded bars to quantify the themes and issues in each project information (blue), accessibility (orange), community (pink), economy (light green), sustainability (dark green), and pleasure (blue), with projects and actions displayed on the reverse side, all selectable by theme using a system of pulleys on the pavilion walls. A complimentary program of events will continue throughout the Biennale. (Photo: Benedikt Hotze)
The abandoned-fairground look of old benches with peeling paint, and a cheesy light-bulb arrow pointing around the corner that redirects visitors to the former side entrance help to create a nice shift in the perception of the German Pavilion and its formal, classical language. This shift in perception is one step in the range of re-imaginings, conversions, and additions that are presented inside. With an interesting choice of projects and a simple, strong exhibition design by Konstantin Grcic, the main element and focus of the pavilion are Erica Overmeer’s stunning photographs. This presentation, curated by German architect Muck Petzet, serves to make a subject often seen akin to make-do-and-mend as sexy and stylish. But the clarity of the presentation is let down by the muddled thesaurus of terms used. The myriad of words – renewal, infill, subtraction, redesign, maintenance, behavior, recycling – ultimately only serve to confuse rather than clarify the message of an otherwise inspired pavilion. (Photo: Thomas Spier)
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