The Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena is the Artistic Director of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, la Biennale di Venezia, which takes place from 28 May - 27 November 2016 under the title Reporting from the Front.

"In his trip to South America," explains Aravena, "Bruce Chatwin encountered an old lady walking the desert carrying an aluminium ladder on her shoulder. It was German archaeologist Maria Reiche studying the Nazca lines. Standing on the ground, the stones did not make any sense; they were just random gravel. But from the height of the stair those stones became a bird, a jaguar, a tree or a flower." He hopes that the Biennale 2016 might "offer a new point of view like the one Maria Reiche has on the ladder."

"Reporting from the Front is about sharing with a broader audience, the work of people that are scrutinizing the horizon looking for new fields of action, facing issues like segregation, inequalities, peripheries, access to sanitation, natural disasters, housing shortage, migration, informality, crime, traffic, waste, pollution and participation of communities. And simultaneously it is about presenting examples where different dimensions are synthesized, integrating the pragmatic with the existential, pertinence and boldness, creativity and common sense."
+ Text by Alejandro Aravena

According to Paolo Baratta, the President of la Biennale, "This time, we wish to investigate more explicitly whether and where there are any trends going in the other direction, towards renewal; we are seeking out encouraging messages." And further, "We feel the need to highlight how positive outcomes have been achieved through the evolution of decision-making chains which link need - awareness - opportunity - choice - execution in a way that leads to a result where 'architecture makes the difference', as Aravena puts it."
+ Text by Paolo Baratta

Three Special Projects:

Reporting from Marghera and Other Waterfronts
Curated by Stefano Recalcati at Forte Marghera (Mestre, Venezia), showing projects for the urban regeneration of industrial ports.

A World of Fragile Parts
In collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Curator: Brendan Cormier. Venue: Applied Arts Pavilion, Sale d'Armi, Arsenale.

Report from Cities: Conflicts of an Urban Age
Organized by the London School of Economics and the Alfred Herrhausen Society. Curator: Ricky Burdett. Venue: Sale d'Armi, Arsenale.

(From press information)