The Kingdom of Bahrain has been awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The international jury included Hans Ulrich Obrist, Paola Antonelli and Mpho Matsipa.
Curated by Andrea Faraguna, the pavilion, entitled Heatwave, addresses the growing challenges presented by rising global temperatures. The architectural proposal draws inspiration from traditional cooling techniques and utilises passive outdoor solutions and shading structures, integrating a geothermal well and solar chimney. The concept promotes environmental resilience, climate architecture and social sustainability, particularly in countries, such as the Kingdom, who are at the forefront of extreme heat.
Exhibitors of the pavilion included Andrea Faraguna, Wafa Al Ghatam, Eman Ali, Alexander Puzrin, Mario Monotti and commissioned by His Excellency Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities.
The Kingdom of Bahrain was also awarded the Golden Lion in 2010, for the countries’s first national participation at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
Special mentions for this year’s national participation went to the Holy See and Great Britain.
Golden Lion for the best participation in the 19th Exhibition Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. went to Canal Café by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky and Davide Oldani.
The Silver Lion for a promising participation went to Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500 by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler, with special mentions for Alternative Urbanism: The Self-Organized Markets of Lagos by Tosin Oshinowo, Oshinowo Studio and Boonserm Premthada’s Elephant Chapel.
19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia runs until 23 November
