THE PAVILION OF THE HOLY SEE
Awarded a special prize by the Golden Lion jury, the Pavilion of the Holy See was curated by Giovanna Zabotti, co-founder of Fondaco Italia, and GSAPP faculty member Marina Otero Verzier, who spoke at the Midnight Meeting. Titled Opera aperta, the pavilion is in fact a building site, since the Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, in which it is located, is currently undergoing restoration. By opening the conservation works to the public, as well as programming various events and activities at the site, the curators seek to “advocate for an architecture that is responsive rather than prescriptive, a site of cultural and material engagement deeply rooted in the communities it serves.” To this end, Venetian music students can book space to rehearse, and while doing so gain an impromptu audience; a communal table hosted by a cooperative brings together locals and visitors; the Università Internazionale dell’Arte is organizing public sessions to pass on traditional building techniques; and all the complex’s “cracks, efflorescence, mold, peeling paint, rot, rust, stains, and weathering” are constantly being drawn and recorded, a process that aims to understand them as an integral part of the building’s life rather than as construction pathologies. Art direction and architectural design by Tatiana Bilbao Estudio and MAIO include yellow lighting and scaffold sheeting that bathe Santa Maria’s interiors in the colors of the Vatican flag.