ARCHITECTURE: Canada Pavilion Restoration at 16th Venice Biennal Architecture
The Canadian representation at La Biennale di Venezia dates to 1952, the Canadian Pavilion building was designed by the Italian architecture studio BBPR and completed in 1957, It opened to the public on 11/6/1958 with an exhibition of the works of James Wilson Morrice, Jacques de Tonnancour, Anne Kahane, and Jack Nichols. The Pavilion remains the only visual Arts Exhibition in the world to which Canada sends official representation.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: National Gallery of Canada Archive
After 60 years of exhibitions featuring the work of some of Canada’s most celebrated artists and architects, the Canada Pavilion in Venice took a major restoration. The restoration project, was initiated by the National Gallery of Canada in 2014, officially began in 2017 to mark the occasion of Canada’s 150th anniversary and suspended during the 57th International Art Exhibition of the La Biennale di Venezia, has resumed after the closure of Geoffrey Farmer’s installation “A way out of the mirror”. The restoration carried out by the Milanese architect Alberico Barbiano di Belgiojoso working in close cooperation with Venice-based architect Troels Bruun and Canadian architect Gordon Filewych. Also Canadian landscape architects Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Bryce Gauthier of Enns Gauthier Landscape Architects worked in partnership with La Biennale di Venezia and the Venice Superintendent for Architectural Heritage on the redesign and replanting of the landscape surrounding the Pavilion. The site now features a new pathway behind the Canada Pavilion and a platform overlooking the Laguna Veneta, while also providing an expanded space that can accommodate performance and artistic interventions. Restored to its original 1957 design with functional upgrades, the Pavilion unveiled on 26/518 presenting the exhibition “Canada Builds/Rebuilds a Pavilion in Venice”, that takes its title from an article published in Canadian Art in January 1958. The exhibition features four thematic sections that highlight historical milestones and explore various aspects of the sixty-year “life” of the Canada Pavilion, including its commission, the building, its critical reception, the restoration and renewal project, and the architectural dimensions of the pavilion and the Biennale Garden. Each of its four thematic sections deals with a single aspect of the Pavilion’s history. The first section considers the motivation behind its commission in 1955 by the National Gallery of Canada, and its inauguration at the XXIX Biennale. The second explores the design of the Pavilion by Studio BBPR between 1956 and 1958, highlighting both the architectural and cultural context of its design. The third section illustrates the life of the Pavilion, chronicling the exhibitions of art and architecture it has hosted over the years. The final section documents the vision and process behind the architectural restoration that led to the Pavilion’s renewal. Also the exhibition includes a publication and short documentary film, (scheduled for release in January 2019), and videos featuring first-hand accounts from the Italian and Canadian participants in this important restoration project.
Info: Curator: Réjean Legault, Architect for the restoration: Alberico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Landscape Architects: Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and Bryce Gauthier, 16th International Architecture Exhibition, Giardini, Venice, Duration: Duration 26/5-25/11/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, www.labiennale.org