V&A Applied Arts Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale

Our creations for the Biennale Architettura 2023 also feature the Special Project for the Applied Arts Pavilion, organized for the seventh consecutive year by the Biennale di Venezia and the V&A and entitled Tropical Modernism: Architecture and Power in West Africa.

Curated by Christopher Turner together with Nana Biamah-Ofosu and Bushra Mohamed, the exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Architectural Association of London and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. Through a multi-channel film installation, it aims to critically reflect on the imperial history of Tropical Modernism, an architectural style born in the Tropical Architecture Department of the AA in London as a tool in support of colonial rule, later adapted by West African architects and in particular by the school of KNUST with the opposite meaning, as an expression of a pan-African ideology for a free Africa.

Our team was responsible for the entire installation of the Pavilion, the path of which allows the visitor to explore the power of architecture both as a means of colonial suppression and as a symbol of nascent political freedom, as well as exploring the specific legacy of Tropical Modernism in West Africa.

Photo by:
Andrea Avezzù
Matteo de Mayda
Jacopo Salvi
Marco Zorzanello

Courtesy: La Biennale di Venezia