Getting back from my flash trip to Venice, I could only recognize that, maybe for the first time in its existence, the Venice Architecture Biennale was indeed being instantly reviewed, twitted and blogged about – thus leaving print reviews in a couple of months from now to an empty role.
In this respect, I can only briefly add that the Golden Lion actually coincided (!!) with my favorite national pavilion: the Kingdom of Bahrain’s, with its wonderful take on reclaiming the informal architecture’s of everyday life as against the country’s amazing growth onto every possible form of private condo…
Bahrain offered the humble beauty of spontaneous sea loungers as giving clues to where architecture is heading in terms of its references…
In stark contrast, the Portuguese pavilion was fooling around with the last remaining aspects of architecture’s commodification – see Aires Mateus’ luxurious take on the primitive hut in Comporta… or artist João Onofre’s acid view on Ricardo Bek Gordon’s WIMBY private villa.
© João Onofre, “Untitled (SUN 2500)”, 2010.Vídeo HD. Courtesy CGCA.
Finally, I must say that I’ve actually enjoyed Sejima’s diverse picks and the resulting succession of Arsenale installations. But I must also suggest that those who liked Wim Wenders’ remaking himself in 3D over Sanaa’s Rolex Learning Centre, should rather revisit the referential and much more beautiful Wings of Desire scene inside Hans Scharoun‘s Staatsbibliothek in Berlin.
Why was Wenders’ original better than most recent artist and film director’s takes on architecture? Because, apart from Wenders being at the top of his form, this was part of a bigger narrative – indeed a narrative which was bigger than life – and not just a sponsored laudatory appraisal of a good building…
shrapnel contemporary 
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esta gostei de ler 🙂