Spanish Pavilion - Spainlab

SPAINLAB is the name that represents the Spanish pavilion inVenice at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition, claiming the vital importance of research processes in architecture. The Pavilion brings together the work of seven teams of active Spanish architects who strongly defend their vocation for innovation, and who have built personal worlds outside styles and fashions, not without some professional risk. The exhibition opens an indiscreet window to each of these worlds, revealing the scientific processes that seek a balance between ideas and their necessary realization, and transcending the finished products to provide access to the reasons and emotions that have made them possible, to the incomplete versions, to the references of which they are fed, to the findings and why not, to errors as well. The works appear then as crystallization points of continuous research processes that are displayed as raw information, without dressing, exposed in a space under construction, like a laboratory or an architecture office; which invites visitors to read between the lines and seeks to provoke learning. Each of the seven teams finds a space within the pavilion to build an on-site installation that reflects the concepts, technologies, methods and strategies they are experiencing at the moment. Installations that, far from being a representation of what they already know, serve as a perfect excuse to continue exploring, testing their ideas and developing prototypes, sharing their most recent interests and concerns. And in this atmosphere of creativity and invention very different approaches and understandings of architecture live together: the conceptual and constructive iteration of concrete folded shells of Sancho-Madridejos Architecture Office; the search for essentiality in architectural space pursued by RCR Arquitectes; Selgascano’s technological research to bring together nature and architecture; the crafted elaboration and manipulation of concrete explored in the work of Menis Architects; the energy efficiency strategies addressed by Cloud9; the City Protocol initiative developed by the City of Barcelona, represented by its chief architect Vicente Guallart; and the participation strategies implemented by Ecosistema Urbano to involve citizens in the design of their urban spaces. The physical installation is complemented by a digital platform that will collect and expand the contents of the pavilion and will survive the exhibition serving as a meeting and exchange point for a wider network of virtual visitors. SPAINLAB DOES NOT support ideologies or methods, but it DOES come with a clear strategy: to demonstrate that the true value of architecture works is not in their final image and that the future of Spanish architecture needs the support and protection of personal research processes, as the essence of the genetics that will give life to the works. Curators: Antón García- Abril & Débora Mesa (Ensamble Studio) Assistants: Enrique Encabo & Inma E. Maluenda (Q! Estudio) Daniel Ibáñez & Pablo Rey Artemio Fochs Alberto Corazón Javier Cuesta Exhibitors: RCR Arquitectes (Rafael Aranda, Carme Pigem, Ramón Vilalta) Selgascano (Lucía Cano, José Selgas) Urban Habitat/Barcelona City Council (Vicente Guallart) SMAO - Sancho-Madridejos Architecture Office (Sol Madridejos, Juan Carlos Sancho) Menis Arquitectos (Fernando Menis) Cloud9 (Enric Ruiz-Geli) Ecosistema Urbano (Belinda Tato, José Luis Vallejo)