Fosbury Architecture Curates Italy Pavilion at 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

The Italy Pavilion at the 18th Venice Architecture Biennale is curated by Fosbury Architecture, a collective of five architects aged 33 to 35: Giacomo Ardesio, Alessandro Bonizzoni, Nicola Campri, Veronica Caprino, and Claudia Mainardi. They were selected by the Italian Ministry of Culture to represent Italy. The pavilion, titled 'Spaziale. Ognuno appartiene a tutti gli altri,' focuses on reusing abandoned or underutilized spaces through co-design and small-scale interventions. Half of the €600,000 budget (from public funds and sponsors) directly supports the exhibited projects. The collective previously mapped 700 of Italy's estimated 1,400 'ecomostri' (unfinished or abandoned buildings) in a 2017-18 book with Alterazioni Video. The pavilion features projects by architects under 40, each paired with advisors from other creative fields. Examples include a church facade in Marghera used as a climbing wall since 1997, and an abandoned hospital in Chieti transformed into Parco dell'Uccellaccio. The collective sees architects as mediators rather than auteurs, working in a context of 'permacrisis' since 2008. The exhibition runs during the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Lesley Lokko.