this venice freespace dance pavilion brings biennale visitors and local residents together

for the 16th venice architecture biennale, curators asked rintala eggertsson architects to do a special project at forte marghera, a closed down fortress in the mainland mestre part of venice. together with the expansive adjacent san giuliano park, forte marghera serves as the main recreational area for the local population of venice. the decision to extend the biennale’s freespace theme off the island and into the urban mainland district was a gesture by the curators, yvonne farrell and shelley mcnamara to establish a relationship between biennale visitors and the general public. 

all images courtesy of rintala eggertsson architects, europlac and francesca iovene

venice is historically known as one of the most artistically influential cities of europe. this devotion to the arts persists even outside the biennale and serves as a catalyst for community organization, especially in forte marghera. when rintala eggertsson architects recognized that one of the primary arts practiced by the mestre residents is dance, the design of a dance pavilion seemed logical. though the space is mainly programmed for dance performances, musical events and larger concerts, it embraces the freespace theme of the biennale and remains open to happenings and hangouts for visitors to the area. to design a freespace, to the architects, is to ‘empower people to take better care of themselves, each other and their surroundings, as a contradiction to construction that symbolizes the mere ideas of power and wealth.‘

the designers illustrate: ‘freespace is contrary to something you must pay for: market forcing amalgam architecture that fills the space with a contract to consume instead of one to communicate. more than ever we need spaces that are free to be visited, affordable for everyone. a space that is empty, not because it lacks something, but remains so just until it is filled with the free thinking and action of the visitors.’

the studio demonstrates the pavilion’s relationship with the political landscape of the site: ‘in our corte del forte installation we want to emphasize the social function of architecture with a small dance pavilion in a setting which is a manifestation of former political, economical and military landscapes and simultaneously a representation of the transition towards demilitarization, openness and democracy.‘

project info:

title: corte del forte
address: forte maghera / via forte marghera 30 / 30173 mestre / venezia ve / italia
architect: rintala eggertsson arkitekter / vibeke jenssen (partner), sami rintala (partner), dagur eggertsson (partner) and mads øiern.
project year: 2018
client: biennale di venezia
curators: yvonne farrell and shelley mcnamara
consultants: engineer stefano caldart
project management: alice clancy og sebastiano giannesini
building leader: joern brandmeyer
contractor: rebiennale
gross area: 190 m2
sponsors: norwegian foreign office / design and architecture norway, europlac / nordlamell, artemide, essve norway, hansen protection and bezzi legnami
photographers: rintala eggertsson architects, europlac and francesca iovene

designboom’s coverage of the 2018 venice architecture biennale is in partnership with leading energy company edison. edison is taking part in the 16th international architecture exhibition of la biennale di venezia by initiating a path towards sustainability and the efficient use of resources. the collaboration between edison and la biennale is based on awareness that energy is one of the fundamental elements of architecture and of the places, spaces and cities of contemporary life.