a conversation with biennale curator hashim sarkis

‘building conversations’ with holcim and designboom

at the 2021 venice architecture biennale, holcim – a global leader in sustainable building solutions – gave the floor to innovative and inspiring architects in a video series called ‘building conversations’. in this project, twelve prominent professionals share their vision on architecture and its latest trends, with the debut video presenting an interview with hashim sarkis, the curator of the 17th international architecture exhibition.

‘architects inspire us every day to build progress for all,’ holcim explains. ‘the biennale was the perfect occasion to hear about the most important trends in architecture from the architects themselves.’ all interviews by holcim are available on the company’s youtube channel, while they will also be presented in a series of upcoming articles on designboom.

‘the listener’ by giuseppe penone and chus martínez for the 2021 venice architecture biennale

image © designboom

about hashim sarkis

hashim sarkis is dean of the school of architecture & planning at the massachusetts institute of technology (MIT), and principal of hashim sarkis studios based in cambridge, USA and beirut. he is involved with the holcim foundation (find more here) as head of the holcim awards jury for middle east africa (2011), member of the global holcim awards jury (2018) and as head of the global holcim awards jury in 2021.

in ‘building conversations’, sarkis talks about how architecture brings different fields, disciplines, and perspectives together. he then explains his theme choice – ‘how will we live together?’, the first biennale title that has taken the form of a question. ‘architecture has an ability to organize space. and in doing that, it encourages people to interact and live together in particular ways,’ explains the curator. ‘the question is: how will we live together? we’re asking architects around the world to respond from their experiences, but also, hypothetically, thinking forward about how architecture can come up with propositions of arrangement of space and people in space.’

timber log installation by alejandro aravena at the 2021 venice architecture biennale

image © designboom

where holcim comes in

through this discussion with hashim sarkis, holcim has come up with a new question: how will we build these new spaces? with 1.2 billion people lacking adequate shelter and sanitation today and 6.5 billion people expected to live in cities by 2050 – how do we build greener cities? or empower society with smarter infrastructure? or improve living standards for all?

drawing influence from sarkis’ thoughts and ideas, as well as from all the other impressive interviewees, including paola viganò and benedetta tagliabue, holcim is tackling these issues as part of its mission to build progress for people and the planet.

‘the world turned inside out’ by plan b architecture & urbanism at the 2021 venice architecture biennale