24 hours in Venice! ….. at the BAUERs and the Biennale
Descending from the summer snow-capped mountains of the Julian Alpes, where vineyards and olive groves shelter below, we headed for the lagoon city of Venice. With little more than 24hours we wanted to soak up as much as possible of Venice’s charm. My artist friend Rodolfo insisted on exploring the 14th Venice Biennale “la Biennale di Venezia-14th International Architecture”. Whilst my friend (and traveller) Kate had recommended the suitably fabulous BAUERs hotel; as a stunning central location if there is little time, stay somewhere central with a top concierge able to recommend and reserve being invaluable. Hotel BAUERs fitted the bill perfectly.
After cutting our way through the open water, we entered the Grand Canal, whereupon our engine slowed down to a gentle rumble. We had stumbled upon the annual Vogalonga or ‘Long Row’ boat race. Like a modern day Canaletto, the length and breadth of the Grand Canal was a confused colourful mass of boats circling, bumping and barging into one another with the occasional cry. This 30km rowing marathon originally created as a protest against the increased use of motor boats, has grown to become a spectacular festival regatta. It just so happens that the BAUERs hotel was close to the St Mark’s Square starting point.
Venice is known as a place for lovers. So to escape the tourist traps selling Venetian masks and Murano glass figurines, we took a short vaporetto ride to the nearby island of La Giudecca. Welcomed by the magnificent Church of the Most Holy Redeemer (Chiesa del Santissimo Redentore), La Giudecca is 21st century Venice of long quays and converted warehouses. Yet in the gentleness of a romantic evening meal, there is hardly a better way of savouring the Venetian skyline dominated by Giotto’s campanile towering over the faded palazzos of the Grand Canal.
Early next morning after a quick espresso, we headed for the Biennale. At this time of day, Venice is at its most innocent. Scattered with hidden pockets of solitude found in tiny humble squares; crumbling shabby chic exteriors decorated by lines of laundry dancing in the Adriatic breeze; we weaved through a labyrinth of narrow alleyways and bridges, until we finally arrived at the Giardini, host of the Biennale’s Central and National Pavilions. Curated by Rem Koolhaas, this year’s theme is Fundamentals of architecture and the evolution of national architectures during the last 100 years.
So we embarked on an aesthetic treasure hunt finding clues of individual nation’s rich architectural repertoire trying to resist the inevitable wave of globalisation towards conformity. From Bahrain to Belgium; Peru to Poland; Thailand to Turkey, national pavilions jostled to surprise and provoke.
Korea’s pavilion presented an architectural ‘Crow’s eye view’ of this divided nation. With both capitals destroyed, Pyongyang by bombs and Seoul by bulldozers, predictably they followed contrasting architectural paths to reconstruction. Seoul becoming a hybrid metropolitan city and Pyongyang a city of monuments and planned socialism with the border territory becoming a no man’s land for NGOs.
The Israeli pavilion showed the consequence of the Sharon Act 195, which created a sprinkling of settlements across this young country which is neither urban nor suburban but ‘urburb’. These settlement patterns were drawn on sand robotically, then promptly erased and then redrawn once again to show the transitory nature of human settlement.
Dramatically the Portuguese pavilion exhibited no buildings at all, but distilled into a newspaper entitled ‘Homeland’ following the development of several architectural projects. The idea that a newspaper reflected a society’s conversation and influences and thus ultimately what we build.
However like melting gelatos, our cultural escapade was soon to be over. Missing the artistry of Murano, the outrageousness of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum and the simple pleasure of a Harry’s Bar Bellini and the BAUERs hotel! Blogger: Louise Ratcliff (with thanks from Drake London).
