Scottish Architecture

A Gathering Space

With the support of the Scottish Government, The Lighthouse presented A Gathering Space at La Biennale di Venezia, 11th International Architecture Exhibition.

One of the only temporary structures to be created specially for the Biennale, A Gathering Space was located in Piazzale della Stazione Santa Lucia, Venice outside the main railway station and close by the Calatrava bridge. The 7m-high wooden structure, created from sustainable materials, including Scotlarch®, showcaseed Scottish design and construction. It inviteed visitors to sit, pause and contemplate, and from the top offers a whole new perspective on the city. A Gathering Space was the focus of a number of debates and an evening event celebrating Scotland and Venice with djs and live music from bands Isosceles and Wilson Tan.

Following an open, anonymous competition to design a landmark installation for the Scottish presence at the Biennale, leading practice Gareth Hoskins Architects, designed an imposing and expressive structure, which occupied the Piazzale. It took the form of a flight of stairs that rose above the height of the canopy of the adjacent railway station and sat within the long tradition of public stairs as seating - notable precedents include the Spanish Steps and the entrance stairs to the Metropolitan Museum, New York. “Venice is a city of bridges and steps” Gareth Hoskins “As with many cities around the world these form places within the urban environment where people often pause, to rest, to meet or to simply watch the daily hustle and bustle of city life. This structure forms an intriguing new sculptural incident within Venice that creates both a formal place for events and an informal place where people can gather and observe the City from a new perspective”. Gareth Hoskins Architects’ design was realised for The Lighthouse by Avonhill Timber Frame Limited.

During the opening days of the Biennale A Gathering Space formed the focus of series of debates and presentations that tied together current trends in place making and regionalism in architecture, and looked at the tangible differences architecture makes to our lives. Also unveiled were newly created visualisations of Venice created by the Digital Design Studio of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, one of their the ground-breaking 3-D city models, A Gathering Space then remained in situ as ‘a gathering space’ for the public until the 12 Oct 08.

“For the Scottish presence this year we decided to take a novel approach in line with the theme of the Biennale - Architecture Beyond Building,” Nick Barley, Director of The Lighthouse. “A Gathering Space, aims to harness the buzz of and boundless energy of the Biennale with a lively programme of events bringing together Scottish and international voices to stimulate debate, exchange ideas and address some of the key architectural issues facing the world today.”

"I am delighted the Scottish Government has been able to support the design competition and construction of A Gathering Space, guaranteeing a strong Scottish presence at the Venice Biennale on Architecture." Linda Fabiani, MSP Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture. "Gareth Hoskins Architects’ design cerates a focal point and an inspiration for those exploring the art of architecture - putting Scotland at the heart of the Biennale."

A Gathering Space was also the venue for the launch of The Lighthouse Architecture Series of monographs, which over the next five years will look at practices emerging on the international stage. The first in the series, with contributions from Hugh Pearman, Andy Macmillan, Greg Penoyre and Deyan Sudjic, amongst others, looks at Gareth Hoskins Architects as the practice marks its 10th anniversary. An associated exhibition runs in Glasgow until early November 2008 and will be shown at RIBA in London in Feb 09.

Map of Biennale Locations

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The realisation of A Gathering Space has been significantly supported by:

Kindly sponsored by John C Bute

Events

For the preview days of the Biennale (11-14 Sept) A Gathering Space acted as a dynamic events space, with a packed programme, helping to attract around 1,000 people a day to the structure. In addition to The Lighthouse debate and an official launch party (in association with Blueprint), RIBA Journal and Glasgow School of Art also chose to host their debates at A Gathering Space. With regret the Building Design Debate had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions (and they say it rains a lot in Scotland!)

Venice Highlights

RIBA Journal Debate: Off centre
Hugh Pearman, editor of RIBA Journal, moderated a discussion on New Regionalism in architecture, with Gareth Hoskins (Gareth Hoskins Architects) and Philip Follent (State Architect for Queensland). The debate examined the challenges facing architects working outside of main city centres (in this case, working away from London and Sydney).

Link to RIBA Journal Article on debate: http://www.ribajournal.com/article/view/3119076

The Glasgow School of Art: The Urban Laboratory and the City Model
The Glasgow School of Art showcased two of its major projects in Venice starting with The Urban Laboratory which aims to shape Glasgow's future development by setting a world standard in cross-disciplinary teaching and research in place making, Alan Simpson (Head of Urbanism GSA) examined how we can transform our urban landscape.

The City Model, produced by the Digital Design Studio, is an interactive 3-D, digital model which can be used by architects and the public to map out cities and also be used as a tool for historic building preservation. Douglas Pritchard (Head of Visualisation) and Margherita Cavallo (Glasgow City Council) presented the model they have been working on for the city of Glasgow as well as unveiling exciting new visualisations of Venice including A Gathering Space.

For more details on the projects at the GSA visit: www.gsa.ac.uk

The Lighthouse Debate: Architecture Beyond Building
Chaired by architectural theorist and landscape architect Charles Jencks, architects Zaha Hadid and David Page (Page\Park Architects) discussed the importance of architecture in improving our lives from schools to hospitals, housing and other public spaces.

Architecture does not simply endow society with timeless, iconic buildings, it is a galvanising force, an agent of change that makes a tangible difference to our lives. This is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in projects such as the Maggie’s Centres which has seen a series of architectural gems built in the UK and has given the first ever UK commissions to both Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, But, more importantly, each building has been embraced by its local community and has been conceived in such a way as to support those affected by cancer.

Read The Herald’s interview with Zaha Hadid after the debate

Scotland and Venice 2008 Launch Party
In association with Blueprint Magazine, A Gathering Space hosted a lively launch night with music from Scottish bands Isosceles and Wilson Tan followed by a DJ set by Nick Peacock.

Building Futures with the RIBA Trust: Building Futures Game
The Building Futures Game is an interactive game that looks at trends in place making and the contribution architecture makes to our lives. This was a chance to bring the toolkit to an international audience and asked participants to think ‘big’ on what the future of the town might be. In this case the town was Neilston, a small town just outside Glasgow of some 5000 residents which has, like many such towns, undergone a substantial change in character in recent years. The workshop offered an alternative and complementary way to discuss the town and will feed into a wider programme of consultation with Glasgow’s Urban Lab team at the Mackintosh School of Architecture and The Lighthouse, later in 2008 and into 2009 that will give Neilston residents and others the chance to take an active role in transforming their town.

More information and a full report on the results

For more information on Neilston Development Trust visit: http://www.neilstontrust.co.uk

Venice Architecture Biennale

The forthcoming Architecture Biennale will be the 11th year of the event, and continues to attract prestigious institutions and architects globally. The 11th International Architecture Exhibition entitled 'Out There: Architecture Beyond Building' is directed by Aaron Betsky, and will take place from 14 September to 23 November 2008 in the Arsenale and Giardini exhibition venues. The opening days run from 11 – 13 September 2008.

The Gathering Space is part of the Collateral Events Programme, a series of off-site exhibitions and events organised by cultural institutions from all over the world.

Please go to www.labiennale.org for further information.

To request invitations to the preview (11 – 13 September 2008 at the Arsenale and Giardini) architecture professionals should fill in the online form:

http://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/exhibition/en/79541.html

The Organizational Secretariat will only take into consideration requests arriving no later than 31 July 2008.