This year, students from the School of Architecture at La Salle Campus Barcelona have taken part in the Venice Architecture Biennale, the world’s leading architectural event that brings together the best projects from around the globe.
Specifically, La Salle-URL has participated with two collaborations:
BIENNALE SESSION
A total of 27 architecture students (21 students from the La Salle-URL School of Architecture, 5 from the Technical School of Architecture in Reus and one student from ETSAV-Vallès School of Architecture), took part in Workshop XI of the Venice Architecture Biennale, organised by La Salle Campus Barcelona and divided into two parts. The theme of this year’s Biennale is FREESPACE.
The first part involved immersing the participants in the Venice Biennale and the city, as well as getting to grip with its context. The students then made their way to Venice for eight days to take part in activities to complement their Degree in Architecture studies.
Participants were divided into five groups, with each group analysing a different neighbourhood of Venice (Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, Castello, Santa Croce, San Polo), accompanied by a lecturer from La Salle-URL. The main objective of these outings was to explore the richness of each neighbourhood, each with its own characteristics, colours, smells, façades, blinds etc. Once each of the routes was analysed, the students were given a project covering one of the urban deficiencies affecting the city under the name of "a gift for the Venetians". Finally, the students presented their projects in the Arsenale space as part of the framework of the ‘Biennale Sessions’ organised at the Venice Biennale, all with a common theme: the future of urban planning and its impact on architecture and people.
"I congratulate the La Salle-URL Architecture students for their projects presented at the Biennale Session. These are magnificent projects that provide an excellent response to the future of urban planning and its impact on architecture and on people"
Parallel to the participation in the various initiatives organised by the La Salle-URL lecturers, participants also took advantage of the experience to expand their architectural knowledge, explore the leisure options the city offers and even to take inspiration and create a series of drawings.
COLLATERAL EVENT
On the other hand, La Salle-URL Architecture students took part in a workshop in Vall de Bianya in March, where they were able to reflect on the motto proposed by RCR Arquitectes (Pritzker Architecture Award): ‘What can we learn from nature?’. To answer this question, about fifty students spent three days working together on projects and visited RCR's Barberí Space in Olot, accompanied by Rafael Aranda and lecturers from La Salle Campus Barcelona. Of the 12 projects carried out, the architects of the RCR architectural studio in Olot selected six.
Currently, these projects have been on display at the Catalonia Pavillion, as part of the Collateral Events at the XVI edition of the Venice Biennale since it opened on 26 May. Visitors interested in seeing the work can visit the space until 25 November, when the international exhibition closes its doors.
