Structures of Memory
Venice, 14. Biennal of Architecture, 2014
General Curator: Rem Koolhaas
Curators: Michele Bambling, with: Adina Hempel, Marco Sosa
Client: Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation
Organization: National Pavilion UAE
Contractor: Tosetto Allestimenti
Lighting: iGuzzini
Graphics: Sarah Alagroobi
Photo: Mohamed Somji, curtesy National Pavilion UAE
Surface: 250sm
Collaborators: Simona Tartaglia, Anita Sala
The curatorial idea has been physically transposed in the pavilion. ‘Lest we forget” tries, on one hand, to recreate the private dimension of the arab domestic space, and, on the other, to describe, trough an interactive archive, the evolution of architecture in the UAE. The “closed scheme” of the typical houses’ plans was rebuilt by creating an exterior structure -1.8mt. high -, completely blank if seen from outside.
Anyone entering the pavilion has the feeling of passing from a public domain to a more intimate, almost holy, space, in which are placed 76 drawers containing artifacts and documents selectedby the curatorial team. The drawers are the basic element of the domestic dimension and, at the same time, an interactive object: the visitor has, in this way, the perception of a personal access to hidden histories, “closed in a drawer,” which are placed following a diachronic scheme. The idea is that a story does not prevail over the other, emerging occasionally, depending on the type of interaction that occurs between the public and the installation. The UAE has a long architectural tradition, linked to its nomadic culture and built on temporarybuildings made with adobe and dried palm leaves. For this reason, the archive is wrapped by anenclosure made out of wood and steel frames, texturized with 7km of hemp cord. The frames have a warp pattern reminiscent of Harish huts’ texture.The enclosure is a impalpable and temporary membrane, that vibrates following the movementof the visitor, and which assumes a transparency gradient that changes according to the point of view.
