Urban Sustainability Showcased at International Architecture Exhibition
Sixteen major cities from around the globe are represented at the 10th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale, dedicated to city dwellers and their landscapes.
Sunday saw the opening of the 2006 Architecture Biennale, and many are saying it’s more about sociology than urban planning. Entitled “Cities, Architecture and Society,” it looks at the changing face of today’s urban environments and showcases work from fifty countries. “One of the biggest global problems of today and in the years to come is that of urban progress and population growth,” said Davide Croff, chairman of the Venice Biennale.
“In 2005, for the first time, the number of the planet’s inhabitants living in cities surpassed 50 percent.”
“The city is the main place where architecture is practiced, and it’s also the place where one measures the ability to live together, where one measures the strong links which exist between architecture and society,” Croff said.
“We needed to go and look and see what has happened in the big cities, understand their effects on man and on his quality of life, to give a world view of big cities,” said British architect Richard Burdett, director of the festival.
