Co-ownership of Action: Trajectories of Elements
The Japan Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
The Japan Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia presents “Co-ownership of Action: Trajectories of Elements,” curated by Kadowaki Kozo. The project involves dismantling an old wooden house into its individual parts and elements, transporting them to Venice, and reconstructing the house in a new configuration with the addition of modern materials (such as scaffolding pipe, mesh, and blue tarps). The architects working on the project are collaborating with artisans and researchers to include improvisation and creative processes on site as part of the exhibition.
The issue of incessant mass consumption in contemporary society has been further intensified by movement, the ability to move large volumes of things quickly and inexpensively. Moving a postwar house that has outlived its usefulness in Japan to Venice and exhibiting it in a different context gives a completely new existence to the old materials that had once been part of a very ordinary house. By shifting the focus from movement for the purpose of consumption to movement for the purpose of reconstruction, the exhibition provides a significant stimulus for thinking about the issues associated with mass consumption, about the sustainability of architecture, and about how new architecture should be approached.
Commissioner | The Japan Foundation (JF)
Curator | Kozo Kadowaki
Participants |
Architects: Jo Nagasaka / Ryoko Iwase / Toshikatsu Kiuchi / Taichi Sunayama / Daisuke Motogi
Designer: Rikako Nagashima
Collaborators |
Researchers: Norimasa Aoyagi / Aya Hiwatashi / Naoyuki
Matsumoto /
Tetsu Makino / Building System Design Laboratory at Meiji University
(Kozo Kadowaki, Makoto Isono, Kimihito Ito)
