krupinski/krupinska carve iconic pieces of architecture out of pine trees

with narrative as a driving force, stockholm-based krupinski/krupinska presented the naturalis brutalis at the venice architecture biennale 2018. installed inside the serra dei giardini greenhouse as part of the ‘plots, prints, projections’ exhibition, the pieces showcase a high level of craftsmanship, where iconic architecture examples have been carved out of pine trees found in a forest in northern sweden by the naturalis brutalis. with it, the architects aim to raise questions concerning the future of swedish wood industry.

for the exhibition, krupinski/krupinska created a a fictional character called the naturalis brutalis and when asked who they are they said that ‘the naturalis brutalis are increasingly present in swedish forests and have developed a brutal, sometimes unscrupulous, relationship with its surrounding nature. they are dangerous even if they sometimes strive to be sympathetic.’ to bring them into venice, and to strengthen the narrative, a piece of the forest was brought inside a freight-box with the inner walls clad in mirror in order to create the illusion of their habitat inside the greenhouse. lastly, for a better understanding of the installation, it is also worth knowing that the main sponsor of the exhibition is the swedish wood industry that has a very controversial history of large scale tree felling.

‘greenhouses have a tradition of exhibiting nature, putting nature on display,’ says konrad krupinski. ‘we find that interesting and therefore also wanted to exhibit nature. questions about what is real nature became inextricable. the ambiguous relationship between the artificial and the real intrigues us. but also our relation to nature in terms of respect, exoticism and mysticism. we wanted to investigate this tension through exhibiting it, framing it and crating it.’

project info:

project team:  krupinski/krupinska arkitekter: konrad krupinski (partner), katarina krupinska (partner), beatrice dinu, pawel maszota, ingrid westermark, victor johansson
conservator: ateljé jonas svensson / jonas svensson
carpentry: c&d snickeri

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.