Last modified on Fri 21 May 2021 13.19 EDT
A robotic arm twitches above a lumpy landscape of compacted earth, pock-marked with little hollows from which pink tufts of fungus emerge. This is an âecosystem of empathy and coexistenceâ, a caption tells us, the fungal flora and mechanical limb living together in perfect harmony. Nearby, bubbling tanks of lurid green algae are apparently busy cultivating an âurban microbiomeâ, while a cloud of feathery acrylic creatures hover above a mysterious constellation of columns emitting an eerie hum.
Welcome to the Venice Architecture Biennale, pandemic edition, an exhibition as confusing as it is confused. All along the 300-metre length of the main exhibition in the cityâs former rope-making factory, and filling every room of the labyrinthine central pavilion in the Giardini nearby, are installations attempting to answer the momentous curatorial question: âHow will we live together?â In the current context of t