U.S. Pavilion at 13th Venice Architecture Biennale Launches Website and Open Call for Projects

The U.S. Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, devoted to the theme Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good, has launched a new website to share information about the exhibition and to broaden the call for projects to be considered for inclusion. Organized by the Institute for Urban Design, Spontaneous Interventions will examine the nascent movement of architects, designers, planners, artists and everyday community members initiating their own projects to bring positive change to the urban realm.

The exhibition will feature a range of realized interventions that expand the comfort, functionality, inclusiveness, safety, and sustainability of U.S. cities. Motivated by a renewed sense of social and political engagement, featured projects include: guerrilla bike lanes, community gardens, urban farms, occupations, urban repair squads, pop-up markets, crowdsourced urban planning, chairbombing, sharing networks, temporary architecture, and communication campaigns, plus digital projects that make cities more navigable, accessible, and transparent. Spontaneous Interventions will frame an archive of actionable strategies that bring immediate citizen-led improvements to cities. Taken together, these projects demonstrate an alternative to traditional, top-down approaches to urban revitalization.

The website will continue to grow over the next nine months, expanding to include a news column, curators’ blog, links to related articles and resources, and list of participants and projects. When the Biennale opens in September, the site will include a participants’ blog, a searchable database of projects, and guide to programs in Venice and the United States during the Biennale.

Architects, designers, planners and artists who have realized an intervention in a U.S. city are encouraged to submit their projects by February 6 in order to be reviewed during the next curators’ meeting.

Click here for additional details about project criteria and submission requirements.