The Golden Lion for the Best Project of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2010 with the title “People Meet in Architecture” was given to Junya Ishigami and Associates for their installation “Architecture as Air: Study for Château la Coste”. The jury acknowledged the “unique and uncompromising vision of its author… The work pushes the limits of materiality, visibility, tectonics, thinness, and ultimately of architecture itself.”
Most of the visitors that entered the exhibition space in the Arsenale were wondering where the installation was, because at first sight they didn’t see anything – except a team who looked like performing a pantomime. A closer look revealed that they were working on an installation composed of extremely thin carbon fiber rods and spider web thin filaments. The reason why the installation was even more invisible than intended was because the installation collapsed during the press preview of the Biennale.
Junya Ishigami: Architecture as Air: Study for Château la Coste. 12th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Biennale Preview, Venice / Italy, August 27, 2010.
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