In response to the proposal made by Alejandro Aravena, director of the 15th International Venice Biennale of Architecture – Reporting from the front, the curator chosen by the Bienal de São Paulo Foundation Washington Fajardo will present the exhibit Juntos  [Together]. The project for the Brazilian Pavilion seeks to identify the stories of people who struggle for and effect change in the face of institutional passivity in the nation’s big cities, realizing architectural achievements which, though they take place through slow processes, are possible solutions to the political breakdown in territorial planning. According to the curator, “the exhibit is a composition of these trajectories and partnerships, of the process of the encounter between the activist, the fighter, and the architect and architecture, empowering them through the development of the new space.”

According to Luis Terepins, president of the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo, the project for the Brazilian participation designed by Fajardo goes to heart of the event’s general theme, as well as the foundation’s objectives. “By establishing this dialogue between Brazilian architecture and contemporary discussions on an international level, the Bienal is working to accomplish its central mission to spread the nation’s culture in a global context,” says Terepins.

Black culture, the black population, historical centrality and access to culture through architecture and design content are the stories told by the Brazilian pavilion in its search for an understanding of what it means to be “together,” as further emphasized by Fajardo. The exhibition combines processes and their varied stages of development, whether complete, ongoing, yet to be undertaken or unfinished. They are processes that deal with architecture, urban planning, cultural heritage, publications, activism and social technology. As such, the exhibition also consists of videos, photos, letters, articles, poetry, texts, facts, drawings and data, “composing a memorial for these lives immeshed in the fight to improve the constructed environment, in their communities, in the revival of a way of being and knowing.” To realize Juntos, the Brazilian curator selected the projects listed below. Their respective authors and those involved in their development are also listed.

Parque de Madureira, Ruy Rezende, Rio de Janeiro

“The exhibit is a composition of these trajectories and partnerships, of the process of the encounter between the activist, the fighter, and the architect and architecture, empowering them through the development of the new space”

Vila Flores (Porto Alegre, 2012)
Architectural authors: Goma Oficina
Cultural-institutional authors: Associação Cultural Vila Flores Foundation

Vale Seal of Urban Quality (2013)
Architectural authors: Nanda Eskes (Instituto Casa – Convergências de Arte Sociedade e Arquitetura)
Cultural-institutional authors: Andreia Rabetim and Rosane Biasotto (Fundação Vale)
Partner institutions: Secretaria Nacional de Habitação/Ministério das Cidades, Caixa Econômica Federal, Fundação Bento Rubião, ETH Zurich, Unesco.

Park + Institute Sitiê (Rio de Janeiro, 2005)
Architectural authors: Pedro Henrique de Cristo e Caroline Shannon de Cristo (+D Studio)
Cultural-institutional authors: Mauro Quintanilha, Paulo César de Almeida e a Comunidade do Vidigal

Madureira Park (Rio de Janeiro 2012 – 2016)
Architectural authors: Ruy Rezende
Cultural-institutional authors: Mauro Bonelli e Tia Surica

Circuit of African Heritage (Rio de Janeiro, 2014)
Architectural authors: Sara Zewde, Instituto Rio Patrimônio da Humanidade
Cultural-institutional authors: Merced Guimarães, IPN, Damião Braga, Quilombo da Pedra do Sal, Pequena África, Tia Ciata, Giovanni Harvey, Grupo de Trabalho Curatorial do Projeto Urbanístico, Arquitetônico e Museológico do Circuito

Jongo House (Rio de Janeiro, 2010-2015)
Architectural authors: Pedro Évora and Pedro Rivera (Rua Arquitetos)
Cultural-institutional authors: Dyonne Boy e Tia Maria (Ong Jongo da Serrinha)

Grow and Live Circus (Rio de Janeiro, 2014)
Architectural authors: Rodrigo Azevedo (AAA_Azevedo Agência de Arquitetura) e Maxime Baron
Cultural-institutional authors: Junior Perim e Vinicius Daumas

Vidigal School (Rio de Janeiro, 2013-2015)
Architectural authors: Brenda Bello e Basil Walter (BWArchitects)
Cultural-institutional authors: Vik Muniz

New Mangue School (Recife, 2000)
Architectural authors: Bruno Lima, Francisco Rocha, Lula Marcondes (O Norte -Oficina de Criação)
Cultural-institutional authors: Comunidade do Coque
Partner institutions: Unicef e ONG Umbu-Ganzá

Vila Matilde House (São Paulo, 2011-2015)
Architectural authors: Danilo Terra, Pedro Tuma, Fernanda Sakano (Terra e Tuma Arquitetos Associados)
Cultural-institutional authors: Dona Dalva Borges Ramos

Street Signs of Maré (Rio de Janeiro, 2012-2016)
Architectural authors: Laura Taves (Azulejaria)
Cultural-institutional authors: ONG Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré

Bike Paths of the Center (Rio de Janeiro, 2012-2015)
Architectural authors: Clarisse Linke (Instituto de Políticas de Transporte e Desenvolvimento – ITDP Brasil), Zé Lobo (Transporte Ativo), Pedro Rivera (Studio-X)
Cultural-institutional authors: Cyclists

Program Vivenda (São Paulo, 2013)
Architectural authors: Fernando Amiky Assad, Igiano Lima de Souza, Marcelo Zarzuela Coelho
Cultural-institutional authors: Comunidade Jardim Ibirapuera

Jardim Edite Complex (São Paulo, 2008-2013)
Architectural authors: Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira e Milton Braga (MMBB), Eduardo Ferroni e Pablo Hereñú (H+F)
Cultural-institutional authors: Miguel Luiz Bucalem (Secretário Municipal do Desenvolvimento Urbano), Elton Santa Fé Zacarias (Secretário de Habitação, 2009-2010), Ricardo Pereira Leite (Secretário de Habitação, 2010-2012), Elisabete França (Superintendente e Secretária Adjunta), Luiz Fernando Fachini (Coordenador de projetos)

Piseagrama Magazine (Belo Horizonte, 2011)
Architectural authors: Fernanda Regaldo, Renata Marquez, Roberto Andrés e Wellington Cançado (editores); Felipe Carnevalli e Vitor Lagoeiro (editores assistentes)
Cultural-institutional authors: Readers

Complexo Jardim Edite, Fernando de Mello Franco, Marta Moreira and Milton Braga (MMBB); Eduardo Ferroni and Pablo Hereñú (H+F), São Paulo

About the 15th Mostra Internazionale di Architettura – La Biennale di Venezia
With the theme Reporting from the front, the director of the 15th edition of the big event, Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, envisages works that contribute to the common good and improvements in people’s lives. Known for his projects for social housing and interventions in environmental disaster areas, Aravena declared that “there are countless battles that need to be won and several frontiers that need to be expanded, with the objective of improving the quality of the constructed environment and consequently the quality of people’s lives.”

About the Brazilian participation
Every two years, the Mostra Internazionale di Architettura – La Biennale di Venezia features a large collective exhibition and dozens of national pavilions. The organization of the official Brazilian participation at the event is the fruit of a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Relations, responsible for maintaining the Brazilian pavilion, the Ministry of Culture, through the application of resources from Funarte, and the Bienal de São Paulo Foundation, which produces the event.

Brazilian Participation at the 15th Mostra Internazionale di Architettura – La Biennale di Venezia
Commissioner: Luis Terepins, President of the Bienal de São Paulo Foundation
Curator: Washington Fajardo
Venue: Brazil Pavilion Address: Giardini Castello, Padiglione Brasile, 30122 Venice, Italy
Biennale: May 28 – November 27, 2016
Director of the 15th International Venice Biennale of Architecture: Alejandro Aravena