Harvard GSD at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale

Harvard’s Graduate School of Design is pleased to announce its participation in Fundamentals, the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (June 7-November 23), curated by Rem Koolhaas, professor in practice of architecture and urban design at the GSD.

For the past two years, 24 students enrolled in GSD’s Studio Abroad program have been based at Koolhaas’s OMA/AMO Rotterdam office, carrying out research, design, and production work for the exhibition Elements of Architecture, featured in the Giardini’s Central Pavilion.

Elements of Architecture expounds on the concept of architectural fundamentals, essential features used by any architect, anywhere, anytime, such as the floor, the wall, the ceiling, the roof, the stair, and so on. “We are trying to look in a new way at the most elementary components of architecture,” explains Koolhaas. “We will encounter similarities and differences, but more than anything else, we will see how these seemingly stable elements are constantly evolving in time.” For an inside look at the collaboration between the GSD and OMA/AMO, watch the video Elements of Architecture.

The work of numerous GSD alumni and faculty will also be on display throughout the Biennale, including Iñaki Ábalos, chair of GSD’s Department of Architecture, who is curating the Spanish Pavilion.

Also in Venice, the GSD will launch the new Harvard Design Magazine. Under the editorship of Jennifer Sigler, issue 38—“Do You Read Me?”—sets the stage for the magazine’s new direction, one that invites “reading” across disciplinary boundaries, and stakes out an expanded arena for architecture and design dialogue.