combine to give a critical reading of the local built environment at this year’s Philippine Pavilion Contemporary Fix ASEAN pavilions at the Venice Biennale 2018 embody the current states of the region’s architecture

VENICE BIENNALE 2018

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The ASEAN pavilions at the Venice Biennale 2018 explore DQGFHOHEUDWHWKHFXUUHQWVWDWHVRIWKHUHJLRQ·VDUFKLWHFWXUH

Written by Angel Yulo Photographed by Lawrence Carlos

Google “Southeast Asian architecture” DQGWKHÀUVWIHZKLWVZLOOOHDG\RXWR ancient monuments like Angkor Wat and

Borobudur. Our region’s contemporary architecture, which includes thought, phenomenon, issue, and persona, has only been scratched on the surface, save for the seasonal conferences organized by universities and research institutions. Thus, the Venice Biennale becomes a cherished platform for ASEAN architects who get invited, all of whom are conscious of exhibiting our present to an audience who are only familiar with our distant past.

In the Arsenale, where newer nations (usually former imperial colonies) are housed, the conversations we have daily on our streets and our studios are an earshot from our neighboring countries. Curators and collaborators are invited as panelists in each others’ public forums. And, at least for seven months every other year, design cross-pollination is just a short walk away. At the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, four ASEAN countries were present: the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand. We give you an overview of the other three national pavilions as well as snippets from our one-on-one interviews with the curators.

A view of the Sale d’Armi building (left) and the Artiglerie building (right) at the Arsenale, which house the different national pavilions. Photo by Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

S I N G A P ORE

No More Free Space?

At just 720 square kilometers with 5.6 million people, Singapore is one of most densely populated tropical countries

today. Throw in “highly-urbanized” into the mix and one is left to ask: is there even any more space to build?

Scarcity of land is something Singaporean architects have constantly battled with, but it has not hindered them in leaping from a post-war backwater into one of the world’s most livable cities. Now, they have the steely wills on a new agenda: to become a lovable city. This is what 2018’s curatorial team hoped to explore with their pavilion entitled No More Free Space? “Our profession is now challenged to respond to a greater calling—to create places enjoyed by all, to create places that delight,” they write in their RௗFLDOVWDWHPHQW

There is a shift from pragmatism, a salient feature of the nation’s design, to attention to quality, which is hardly ever represented by facts and numbers. “The soft power of architecture is really beginning to take hold in Singapore,” said curator Wu Yen Yen.

Top left: “No more free space? We reuse.” Enabling Village by WOHA adapted a former vocational institute into an inclusive space—integrating education, work, training, retail, and lifestyle—that connects people with disabilities to residents in nearby housing estates and to the wider community. Right: The acrylic cloud being assembled by curator Jason Lim Teck Chye at a Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) lab. Although SUTD took the lead in this year’s pavilion, the other stakeholders of Singapore’s architecture (National University of Singapore, private practices, and the Singapore Institute of Architects) were represented by members of the curatorial team. Bottom left: “No more free space? We learn in the mall.” Library@Orchard by Singapore Polytechnic, New Space Architects, DIA Brand Consultants, and National Library Board conceived a more engaging public library in a shopping mall, using design-thinking to study the needs and interests of library users and the community. Photos courtesy of the Singapore Pavilion

That is why our title is a pun because Freespace is split into two words. So it’s a tongue-and-cheek reference to “free” as quantity and as quality.”

The curators selected 12 projects that have turned constraints into possibilities. “We already get a lot of things for free: lush gardens everywhere without asking for it, climate for indoor and outdoor spaces, a lot of rain. The featured projects borrowed from this and transformed it for everyone,” shared curator Chong Keng Hua. “Another resource is our people. So we look at how people are participating in making the city more endearing for everyone.”

Scenes from these 12 spaces are projected on the ground. A JLDQWFORXGRIDFU\OLFNQRWVSURJUDPPHGZLWKOLJKW௖RDWVDERYH the projections. The cloud is responsive as portions of it light up and even change color as viewers move through the installation. The almost-invisible cloud coming “alive” with human interaction LVD௕WWLQJPHWDSKRUIRUWKHSDYLOLRQ֢VVWDWHPHQWDVIUHHVSDFHZLOO always be available to designers who have the ingenuity to create it.

Curatorial team

Lead Curator: Prof. Erwin Viray

Curatorial Collaborator:

Prof. Ho Puay-Peng Curator: Dr. Chong Keng Hua

Curator and Exhibition Designer:

Dr. Jason Lim Teck Chye Curator: Tomohisa Miyauchi

Curator and Exhibition Designer:

Wu Yen Yen

Commissioners DesignSingapore Council:

Mark Wee

Urban Redevelopment Authority:

Larry Ng

I N D O N E SIA

Sunyata: The Poetics of Emptiness

Spans of paper hang like giant hammocks from the top corners of the room. There are gaps between the sections through which heads peer through, as well as two rounded voids—the longer one in line with the doorway, and the smaller one closer to the wall. As you walk through, you can hear trickling—as if water and small pebbles were rolling down the white slopes, causing a double-take because there is nothing there except light. The Indonesian Pavilion interprets the biennale’s Freespace theme into Sunyata: The Poetics of Emptiness.

Sunyata is a Sanskrit word that denotes an active emptiness that injects order into voids without the use of grids, a concept that runs deep in Indonesian architecture. Lead curator Ary Indra tells us his team decided on that direction because present-day designers have become “imprisoned by the eyes,” pertaining to the obsession with visualcentric approaches.

To further illustrate this, the pavilion team selected 27 historical and contemporary buildings that have the transformative void as the crux of their spatial organization. Some of these are: the Taman Sari ruins in Yogyakarta, the Tulang Bawang Barat mosque by Andra Matin, and Jonas Studio in Bandung by Willis Kusuma Architects. The projects are presented on clusters of pedestals surrounding the main installation. And QR codes in each board lead to more information on each project on a mobile app made especially for the pavilion.

“We wanted to zero in on the essentials: space and the whole of human body as the tools for architecture,” Ary said. “The poetics of emptiness is present where people are able to liberate themselves from the oppression of material and form. It’s not about creating a form but about creating a space for all of the senses.”

Y-shaped columns supporting the canopy echo the silhouette of the copious trees that dot the complex. A number of the trees are actually preserved specimens that were part of the lot even before the complex was built. The rainwater collected from the canopy are filtered and stored into rainwater storage tanks. The rainwater harvesting system of South Beach can actually cater to 100% of the irrigation needs of the complex’s abundant shrubbery.

Legend

Emptiness/events

Context/porosity

Above: Jonas Studio is a 4-storey commercial space in Bandung by Willis Kusama Architects. The central atrium is a point of departure towards the upper floors. The shifting voids allow people to observe activities from subsequent levels.

Clockwise from top left: From the Arsenale door, one can walk through the long rounded void leading to the next chamber or choose another vantage point: the gaps between paper slices, benches on the side, or a smaller hole accessed only by crawling Curatorial team beneath the sheet closest to the wall; Mesjid 99 stands as Andra Lead Curator: Ary Indra Matin’s centerpiece for the Tulang Research and Content: Bawang Barat master plan in David Hutama Lampung. The mosque combines Pavilion Design: a dome and a minaret through a Dimas Satria, Ardy Hartono large and tall tower as the main mass. The tower, with 99 light Technology: Jonathan Aditya, Johanes openings atop, creates a towering Adiika dramatically-lit void at the heart of the mosque; Paper, in response Commissioners to gravity, slices the Indonesian Indonesian Agency for Creative Gazetted buildings find new life in South Beach. The Beach Road military camp buildings were required by the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority) to be restored and adaptively Economy: Ricky J. Pesik Pavilion concavely and creates a void in which visitors can reused by the lot’s new tenants. Seen here is Block 1, the oldest of the four structures and Indonesian Institute of Architects: position themselves anywhere to formerly an armory, now known as South Beach Quarter, home to two restaurants. Ahmad Djuhara experience the space.

The Thailand Pavilion is a moodily-lit portion of an Arsenale chamber. A black mat with black recliners occupy the center. Whatever congregation there is seems to triple in number thanks to the mirrored surfaces of the exhibition panels on both sides. Photo by Francesco Galli courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

Curatorial team Lead Curator:

M.L. Varudh Varavarn Vasu Virajsilp Chutayaves Sinthuphan Nantapon Junngurn Sompoom Tangchupong Buttriya Ruamthamarak Nawanwaj Yudhanahas

Commissioners Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, Ministry of Culture:

Vimolluck Chuchat

The Association of Siamese Architects under Royal Patronage:

Atchaphol Dusitnanon

T H A I L A N D

Blissfully Yours

The Thailand Pavilion does not stay put. Every time we passed by, the wedgeshaped pillows shifted around the mat and a new set of visitors were reclining on them. Entitled Blissfully Yours, inspired by acclaimed Thai director Apichatpong :HHUDVHWKDNXO֢VDWPRVSKHULFDQGHURWLFDUW௕OPWKHSDYLOLRQORRNVFORVHUDWWKHOLIHRI spaces after architects surrender control to the users.

Diverting from direction of beautiful photos and scaled models the pavilion took in its past exhibits, lead curator M.L. Varudh Varavarn wanted to present the ten selected SURMHFWVDPL[RISXEOLFSODFHVSULYDWHKRPHVFRQ௖LFWD௔HFWHGDUHDVDQGR௔OLPLW buildings) in their least polished angles—their most lived in or pedestrianized states. The SDYLOLRQ֢VRௗFLDOV\QRSVLVVWDWHV֥,QWHQWLRQDOO\DQGXQLQWHQWLRQDOO\WKHQHZFRQFHSWVRI space and relationship between people and architecture are established.”

“These are things that an architect cannot forecast. And it is good for them to see and learn from what really happens to their project after inauguration,” Varavarn shared as we sat on the recliners. This not just a place to relax. It talks about ‘Thai-ness.’ We are informal. We like to recline and sit everywhere. Even the jury sat down, just like us now, during our interview. So this space is a way to break down the barrier between our architecture, which stems from our culture, and the audience.” )RXUUHQHJDGH௕OPPDNHUVZHUHHDFKSDUWQHUHGZLWKWKHSURMHFWV֢DUFKLWHFWVRQWKH The tower’s east and west façades are wrapped with a screen incorporating ௕OPV7KHYR\HXULVWLFGRFXPHQWDULHVVXUURXQGWKHFHQWUDOPDWDQGDUHYLHZHGWKURXJK slits in the mirrored panels, evoking a peeping Tom experience. Complementing these louvers and horizontal shading to filter are hand-drawn illustrations and photo essays. “There was lot of friction between the heat and light, while still providing creatives but the friction was a source of new ideas. It’s what we wanted to test with our ௕OPV֦DGGHG9DUDYDUQ unobstructed views of the city. Sky gardens populated with endemic plant Before we left, the curator pointed that the pavilion itself is the subject of an 11th species break the façade at irregular documentary as footage from the CCTV cameras above us will be used for a separate intervals to connect tower denizens with the outdoors. The southern and northern facades have a faceted ௕OPZKLFKZLOOEHVFUHHQHGDWDODWHUGDWHLQWKHELHQQDOH+HWKHQJDYHXVIROGLQJ mats, which we could use anywhere we please to carve out our own nook of public glazing treatment; upward facing glass space in any place. All the elements of the elements of the Thailand Pavilion were panes deflect heat and light while the meticulously integrated, only to be released to the liberties of the general public. And we felt like blissfully celebrated end-users of architecture. downward side reflects the city.

Left: The documentaries are housed inside the exhibition panels and can be viewed through a slit on the golden surfaces. One can either sit down or bend to peer through and watch the videos. Above: 10 Cal Tower by Supermachine Studio. This red concrete labyrinthine staircase was built as a playground that offers several variations of routes. Its corners and turns were designed for adults and kids to play hide and seek—and in a way, to try to ‘meet each other’. The community, however, embraced it beyond its original playful function, treating it as a viewing platform, a backdrop for freerunning, and as a shelter for family members to picnic under its shadow. Below: Co-create Charoenkrung by Shma SoEn was a seven-day urban experiment. The main component was a landscape project in front of the Grand Postal Building. With its location in a very dense part of the city where green space is needed, the designers turned a barren and unshaded plaza into a green space which encouraged a variety of activities to take place. Creative workshops, performances, and family gatherings were among the activities that happened during the week. Photos courtesy of the Thailand Pavilion