Volume #41: How to Build a Nation
October 2014
For the first time, a general theme was given to the national pavilions at 2014's Architecture Biennale in Venice. They were to be historical shows, focused on the impact of modernity on a country’s architecture.
What it produced was not just a global survey of twentieth century construction, but also heroic stories of nation-building. Yes, architecture can build nations. Today, we seem far from that notion. The nation-state is either giving up on itself, or exploited through tyrannical regimes. Meanwhile architects are hardly taking up the cause. Volume went to Venice to read and review the pavilions messages, and makes the case for building a nation.
Contributors
Ole Bouman, Rem Koolhaas, Stephan Petermann, Wouter Vanstiphout, Léa-Catherine Szacka, Luca Guido, Daniele Belleri, Ruth Lang, Nick Axel, Ryan King, Dan Handel, Justin Fowler, OfficeUS, Thomas Daniell, Andrés Jaque, Mariana Pestana, Bart Lootsma, Azadeh Mashayekhi, Brendan Cormier, Rob Dettingmeijer, dpr-barcelona + as special insert ‘Open: a Bakema Celebration’, the catalogue to the Dutch pavilion.
