IMPRESSIONS OF THE 2018 ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE AT FAB BERLIN

On June 13 FAB Architectural Bureau in Sarotti-Höfe, Kreuzberg hosts a round table focusing on the 2018 FREESPACE Biennale, featuring images by German photographer Ken Schluchtmann, with the participation of Mario Cucinella, architect and curator of the Italian pavilion, Lars Krückeberg of GRAFT architectural studio, from the curatorial team of the German pavilion, and Christine Edmaier, president of the Order of Architects of Berlin.
The theme selected by the two curators, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, for the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale is FREESPACE. Spazio. Free space and public space may signify the presence or absence of architecture, if we consider it as the idea moulding our living space.
The German pavilion, Unbuilding Walls, focuses on FREESPACE through the “death strip” marking the Cold War division of Germany between 1961 and 1989. In harmony with the theme of the 2018 Architecture Biennale, Curators Thomas Willemeit, Wolfram Putz and Lars Krückeberg, founders of the German architectural studio GRAFT, and the former federal commissioner for STASI documents, Marianne Birthler, propose a series of architectural projects that arose in these places, from Checkpoint Charlie to Springer-Areal: a unique phenomenon in the history of urban planning. The diversity of the approaches to design, types of buildings, stakeholders and results reveal the breadth of the solutions, proposed here in an exhibition intended to make living with divisions visible and tangible and reveal how architecture supports healing of geopolitical wounds.
”ARCIPELAGO ITALIA. Projects for the future of interior territories” is the title of the Italian pavilion. An exhibition project focusing on the area spanning the whole country, from the Alps to the Apennines and the Mediterranean, is intended to provide guidelines for revitalisation of internal areas on the Italian peninsula. Led by curator Mario Cucinella, who selected the projects on exhibit, the project created specifically for FREESPACE will become a tool for discussion and an aid for decision-makers, allowing a vision for the future of the interior of Italy to take concrete form.
And, finally, at the meeting Christine Edmaier, President of the Order of Architects of Berlin represents architects who address the theme of FREESPACE in all its forms in their everyday work.
At the round table, accompanied by exclusive images by Berlin photographer Ken Schluchtmann at the Architecture Biennale, FAB Architectural Bureau offers its guests an overview of the Biennale itself and an in-depth look at the two country’s pavilions.
The "game" between Italy and Germany will take place on June 13, 2018 at FAB in Berlin. The next cocktail party in Venice will bring the atmosphere of the city to the courtyards of Sarotti-Höfe in Kreuzberg.

Programme:
Welcome by Dr. Stefano Luconi - Iris Ceramica Group
Introduction by the speakers
Brief introduction to the Biennale featuring images by Ken Schluchtmann
Debate
around 20:00: cocktails and music