The Royal College of Art announces 23 members of its community will participate in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2023

The Royal College of Art is pleased to announce 23 members of its community will participate in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2023 curated by Lesley Lokko.

The 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia will spotlight Africa and the African Diaspora for the first time, exploring the theme 'The Laboratory of the Future’. An extraordinary 23 RCA faculty, students, and alumni will be taking part in this years’ exhibition, a testament to the School of Architecture’s ongoing commitment to decolonisation, decarbonisation, and ecology, encouraging a plurality of understandings of architecture and engaging with practices across the global south. It is especially rewarding that RCA’s members' participation occurs during an exhibition where more than half of the participants in the Biennale Architettura 2023 are from Africa or the African diaspora.

RCA practitioners featuring at the Biennale Architettura 2023 include:

The International Exhibition:

Alumnus Sir David Adjaye OM OBE RA along with Associate Lecturer Sumayya Vally, Visiting Lecturer & Alumnus Moad Musbahi, and Senior Tutor Thandi Loewenson will exhibit in a section titled ‘Force Majeure’, representing African and diasporic architectural production.

Tutor Emilio Distretti will participate in a collaboration with DAAR (Decolonizing Architecture Art Research) contributing research, writing and pedagogy for the installation ‘The Entity of Decolonization – Borgo Rizza’ which explores the possibility of critical and decolonial reuse and subversion of fascist colonial architecture through spatial practices and public art.

National Pavilions:

Alumnus Yussef Agbo-Ola will exhibit in ‘Dancing Before the Moon’ at Great Britain’s National Pavilion which will focus on spatial rituals in diasporic communities.

Associate Lecturer Marina Otero Verzier will exhibit in ‘FOODSCAPES’ at Spain’s National Pavilion exploring Spanish agricultural architecture.

Tutors and Associate Lecturers Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri will exhibit in ‘SPAZIALE: Everyone Belongs to Everyone Else’ at Italy’s National Pavilion which will provide an unconventional portrait of Italian architecture within the international context.

Alumna Gabrielė Grigorjeva will exhibit in ‘Children's Forest Pavilion’ at Lithuania’s National Pavilion, which will acknowledge the unique perspectives through which children observe and interact with their environment.

Alumnus Alejandro Beals (MPhil in Architecture) is curator and designer of the Chilean Pavilion ‘Moving Ecologies’ (Ecologías en Movimiento) which responds to important cultural and social issues related to the reconstruction of degraded land in Chile.

Curator’s Special Projects:

Associate Lecturer Margarida Waco will exhibit in ‘Food, Agriculture and Climate Change’, and Programme Lead Dr Ines Weizman will exhibit in ‘Gender & Geography’ looking at the complex relationship between climate change, land practices and food production, and gender, architecture and performance respectively.

Associate Lecturer Dele Adeyemo, Associate Lecturer & Alumna Ibiye Camp, Associate Lecturer Meriem Chabani, Visiting Lecturer and Alumna Folasade Okunribido, Alumna Anusha Alamgir and Alumna Lauren-Loïs Duah will exhibit in ‘Guests from the Future’. This section features practitioners whose work provides a glimpse into new generations of practice.

Carnival Public Programme:

Tutor Thomas Aquilina will participate in the Carnival public programme.

International Jury

Tutor Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli will sit on the International Jury as president and award a series of prizes, including the Golden Lions, the Biennial’s top honours.