JAPAN FOUNDATION: Japan Pavilion Wins the "Golden Lion for Best National Participation" at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale
DESIGN / ARCHITECTURE
December 25, 2014

JAPAN FOUNDATION: Japan Pavilion Wins the "Golden Lion for Best National Participation" at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale


JAPAN FOUNDATION
The 13th Venice Architecture Biennale


Japan Pavilion Wins Golden Lion Award for Best National Participation




At 11:00 AM on August 29, 2012 (local time), coinciding with the Biennale's opening, this year's awards were announced. The Japan Pavilion's exhibition, "Where Can Architecture Be?", received the Golden Lion for Best National Participation. The exhibition is open to the public until Sunday, November 25. Additionally, on Tuesday, September 25, a report session titled "Architecture After the Great East Japan Earthquake – Return Report from the Venice Architecture Biennale" will be held at the Fukutake Hall of the University of Tokyo's Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies.






Text by KAJII Makoto (OPENERS)
Photographs by HATAKEYAMA Naoya








A Second Triumph, Following the 6th Venice Architecture Biennale Award




This year's Japan Pavilion exhibition, titled "Where Can Architecture Be?", presented a documentary on the construction of "Minna no Ie" (House for Everyone), a community gathering space for disaster victims in Rikuzentakata, which was devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The exhibition was curated by Commissioner Toyo Ito, along with participating artists Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto, Akihisa Hirata, and photographer Naoya Hatakeyama. It questions the potential of architecture in the post-disaster era.





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Commissioner Toyo Ito stated, "I am deeply honored. The theme this year, 'Catastrophe,' was a very unique subject, and I was concerned about how well it would be understood globally. I am delighted that we were able to convey our message and receive this award. Furthermore, although it was a small project in a special post-disaster context, I am also very pleased that the fundamental questions of 'What is architecture?' and 'What does it mean for people to gather?' – the most primitive meanings of architecture – were understood within the scope of this small project."


This marks the second time the Japan Pavilion has received the Golden Lion award, following the 1996 6th Venice Architecture Biennale (with "Cracks" curated by Arata Isozaki).




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Overview of the Japan Pavilion Exhibition

Organizer: The Japan Foundation (http://www.jpf.go.jp/j/index.html)

Special Grant: The Ishibashi Foundation

Collaborators: Jun Sato Structural Engineers, Daiko Electric Co., Ltd., East West Inc., DNP Photoluxio Co., Ltd.

Venue: Japan Pavilion in the Giardini district. Designed by Takamasa Yoshizaka, completed in 1956.

(Location: Padiglione Giapponese Giardini della Biennale, Castello 1260, 30122 Venezia)

"Where Can Architecture Be?"

Commissioner: Toyo Ito

Participating Artists: Architects / Kumiko Inui, Sou Fujimoto, Akihisa Hirata; Photographer / Naoya Hatakeyama





Venice Architecture Biennale Overview

Organizer: La Biennale di Venezia Foundation (http://labiennale.org/en/index.html)

Dates: August 29 – November 25, 2012, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM. Closed on Mondays (except September 3 and November 19).

Venue: National Participations: Giardini (Giardini di Castello) district, etc.

Exhibition: Arsenale (Arsenale) district, etc.

Director General: David Chipperfield

Overall Theme: Common Ground

Official Website: http://www.labiennale.org/it/Home.html