French Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale

The pavilion, titled “Grands and Ensebles” and curated by Yves Lion, focuses and offers a commentary on France’s large residential estate complexes.

These complexes have gained significant notoriety through the years as places of unwelcome social scenarios and offer a definitive image of the French suburbia. At the same time though provide contemporary French architects with a challenging opportunity as far as their future uses.

The pavilion consists of a large model, a documentary and other audiovisual media. The participating architects have produced an urban study about a future city, whose social and economic growth has as its focal point these large residential estates of the region, giving emphasis to the combination of the use of existing architecture and new sustainable practices.

An entry which gives emphasis to notions such as suburbia, reuse and social unrest.

(Production V. Mistriotis, M. Economou)