The Many Paths of David Chipperfield

Common Ground is an expression that David Chipperfield, director of the 13th International Architecture Exhibition, has borrowed from physics for the title of his Biennale. "In England, the term Common Ground", he explains, "is mainly used in politics and, most importantly, with the verb in the conditional tense. Common Ground is that shared space where two or three people state they have probably found a point of encounter."

The conditional tense is compulsory in politics whereas in architecture, according to Chipperfield, discovering common ground forces people to take a step back from themselves and their work, especially if they occupy a prominent position. If we take a look at the contemporary scenario, we may form an impression of it that does not match the reality. A number of good-quality individual buildings may make us think that architecture is in "good health" but these only represent 1% of the whole and the remaining 99% has actually abdicated from playing a positive role. Chipperfield also stresses that the designers of this 1% are not isolated from each other. They are, of course, archistars, but their paths often cross and influence each other.

Therefore, it wasn't a call to order that the British architect launched on 2 May in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Architecture in Rome, but rather a strategy of comparison. Chipperfield has instilled the art of doubt in the authors involved in his project, asking them to establish a common dialogue and rediscover the "collective force of architecture." Rather than acting as a negotiator, his role is to trigger chemical reactions between people. There is no single way to look collectively at the world. Chipperfield believes the many paths are often diametrically opposite.

The different paths presented by Chipperfield for Venice are fascinating. In all, there are 58 groups, ranging from Hans Kollhoff to Britain's FAT (Sean Griffiths, Charles Holland, Sam Jacob); from Shiraz Allibhai of the Aga Khan Development Network to the authors of the Ruta del Peregrino in Mexico (HHF Architekten, Christ + Gantenbein, Tatiana Bilbao, Derek Dellekamp, Ai Weiwei, Alejandro Aravena, Luis Aldrete and Periférica); from South Africa's Noero Wolff to South America's Rafael Iglesia (Argentina) and Solano Benitez (Paraguay); from the team fielded by Kenneth Frampton (Steven Holl, Rick Joy, Patkau Architects, Stanley Saitowitz and Shim-Sutcliffe Architects) to that of the independent magazine San Rocco. The exhibition also includes works by Thomas Demand, Peter Fischli, David Weiss (who recently passed away) and Thomas Struth.

Common Ground creates unexpected pairings, as in the case of Grafton Architects and Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The proposal made by Ireland's Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell is based on a real assignment: a project for a university campus in Peru. Being Europeans, they decided to immerse themselves in that continent and take the work of Brazilian Mendes da Rocha as a reference, establishing a dialogue on ideas and architecture with him. By contrast, Justin McGuirk, Alfredo Brillembourg and Hubert Klumpner of Urban-Think Tank work on a very topical concept: what Chipperfield calls the "resilience of the human spirit". They show that the path to striking a possible balance in urban environments, on which they are currently working in the favelas of Caracas, can happen in an informal way.

This Biennale is like a tree. Chipperfield started out with an initial selection of curators who, in turn, involved other people. This set in motion what the British architect has described as a very encouraging mechanism of self-curatorship. If we may hazard one minor criticism, countries such as China are missing from the list whereas India and Brazil have just one author present. These other worlds will, however, be represented by the 55 national participations, enriched this year with the presence of five new countries: Angola, Republic of Kosovo, Kuwait, Peru and Turkey. The curators selected notably include Noura Al-Sayeh for Bahrain, Petra Blaisse of Inside Outside for Holland and Inês Lobo for Portugal.

During the press conference, it was announced that the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities would soon name the curator of the Italian pavilion, until then unknown. Keeping with the promise, the following day all reservations were waived and Luca Zevi was appointed.

29 August to 25 November 2012
13th International Architecture Exhibition Common Ground
Giardini — Arsenale, Venice
Open 10:00 to 18:00
Closed Mondays (except Monday 3 September and Monday 19 November 2012)