Aftermath_Catalonia in Venice displays the material developed for the Catalonian Pavilion in the edition of the Venice Biennale that has just concluded. The exhibition proposes a dialogue between the languages of architecture and film and suggests unifying the two art forms in an installation, creating crossed narratives among the projects chosen via visual, sound, material or conceptual connections. The theme of the project is a list of Catalan architectural works explained via their day-to-day use, their environs in terms of their rootedness in their surroundings, the organisation of the territory and the improvements they bring to the community’s quality of life. In line with the overarching theme of the Biennale, “Reporting from the Front”, the project takes a social vantage point of architecture, and using audiovisual information, it presents the new design strategies and new dynamics of use created as a consequence of the recent economic and professional crisis.

The exhibition inquires into the way architecture is explained and displayed, and it avoids the usual snapshot of “moment zero” (that fleeting moment when architects leave the finished building but users have not yet appropriated it) in the architectural intervention. The purpose is to investigate and examine its value from the user’s perspective.

The works are projected onto different translucent glass surfaces which reflect the complexity of the interactions among people, architecture and the natural or urban landscape. The installation is most importantly a sensorial experience which is targeted at a participative, reflective visitor.

The exhibition adapts the material exhibited in Venice to the characteristics of the new space and expands it by showing in situ short films in which the architects are allowed to speak for themselves: a series of interviews in which they explain the intentions behind the projects and their way of thinking about architecture. The third element in the exhibition, the catalogue that explains the concepts that inspired the investigation, is being printed just for our show.

Schedule of activities related to the exhibition

A variety of activities will be held around the exhibition, including architecture workshops for families and adults, round tables and tours, among others.

Exhibition displayed as part of the Eventi Collaterali, 15. International Architecture Show, within the 15 Venice Architecture Biennale 2016

Curators: Isaki Lacuesta, Jaume Prat and Jelena Prokopljević.

Organised and produced by: Institut Ramon Llull and Arts Santa Mònica