The president of la Biennale di Venezia, Paolo Baratta, accompanied by the curator of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, Alejandro Aravena, met on the 31 August at Ca’ Giustinian with the representatives of 48 countries.

Aravena announced that the 2016 Venice Biennale will be titled Reporting From the Front, and will be an investigation into the role of architects in the battle to improve the living conditions for people all over the world. 

Reporting From the Front aims to focus on architecture which works within the constraints presented by a lack of resources, and those designs which subvert the status quo to produce architecture for the common good - no matter how small the success.

Aravena commented in his curators statement, “There are several battles that need to be won and several frontiers that need to be expanded in order to improve the quality of the built environment and consequently people’s quality of life. More and more people in the planet are in search for a decent place to live and the conditions to achieve it are becoming tougher and tougher by the hour.”

“Any attempt to go beyond business as usual encounters huge resistance in the inertia of reality and any effort to tackle relevant issues has to overcome the increasing complexity of the world. But unlike military wars where nobody wins and there is a prevailing sense of defeat, on the frontlines of the built environment, there is a sense of vitality because architecture is about looking at reality in a proposal key,” he explained.

“This is what we would like people to come and see at the 15th Venice Biennale: success stories worth to be told and exemplary cases worth to be shared where architecture did, is and will make a difference in winning those battles and expanding those frontiers.”

Aravena summarized, “The 15th International Architecture Exhibition will be about focusing and learning from architectures that by balancing intelligence and intuition are able to escape the status quo. We would like to present cases that despite the difficulties (or maybe because of them), instead of resignation or bitterness, propose and do something. We would like to show that in the permanent debate about the quality of the built environment, there is not only need but also room for action.”

The 15th Venice Biennale Exhibition will take place from May 28th to November 27th 2016 (preview May 26th and 27th) in the Giardini, Arsenale and various other venues in Venice.