'The show is an inclusive melange, promoting the idea that architecture, like religion, is a construct that can be expressed, interpreted, and instrumentalized in myriad ways'

摘要

With more than 300 art and architecture biennials and triennials and counting, does the world need another? From the 19th-century Venetian original to the mid-20th-century copycat in Sao Paulo to the hip 21st-century incarnations in Shenzhen, China; Rotterdam, Netherlands; and Oslo, Norway, the format of the alternating-year global art and architecture extravaganza has exploded, reflecting the rapid global expansion of creative and financial markets and their inextricable entanglement with local economies and civic ambitions. It's useful to rephrase the same question: Are the burning questions about architecture's importance and possibilities not already sufficiently considered on what's now essentially a perennial schedule? Are architects really lacking exhibitionist opportunities in alluring locales-chances to unleash their impulses by creating follies, sculptures, agitprop, manifestos, and so on? And should cities and funders expend precious resources on such temporary spectacles when there are so many other urgent urban and social problems that require investment?