Venice Architecture Biennale: Rockwell Installation

September 8, 2008. Visitors to the opening of the 11th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale on September 14 will be greeted by a site-specific multimedia installation designed by David Rockwell, in collaboration with Reed Kroloff and Casey Jones. At the entrance of the Corderie dell’Arsenale, the main exhibition facility, the 4,624 square foot Hall of Fragments project responds to the title “Out There: Architecture Beyond Building” chosen by this year’s director Aaron Betsky and suggesting that architecture transcends physical constructions. At the center of the hall is a curved passage of moving imagery sandwiched between two vast convex screens onto which geometric distortions of film clips from Dr. Strangelove, Gattaca, Tempest, and The Last Emperor are projected. The dimensions, pace and number of visitors will determine the character of the visuals. (The actual clips being played will be looped on 40 monitors lining the passage in order for visitors to gain a sense of the abstraction that is being generated.) Open to the public through Sunday, November 23, the exhibition will showcase work by a score of international architecture firms, including Zaha Hadid, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Frank Gehry, and Coop Himmelb(l)au. labiennale.org/en/, rockwellgroup.com, joneskroloff.com