New Zealand
Exhibition
Venice
Architecture
Biennale 2014
“I believe New Zealand
architects have much to offer
on the theme of fundamentals
in architecture. In this country
we have developed a fresh
and distinctive style which
both reflects a shared Pacific
and European heritage and a
strong relationship with the
environment. Participation
at the Biennale would be
an honour and a significant
step forward in gaining
international recognition for
New Zealand architecture.”
Hon. Christopher Finlayson,
Minister for Arts, Culture
and Heritage
The Venice Architecture Biennale
Since its establishment in 1980,
the Venice Architecture Biennale
has developed into the world’s
foremost architecture event.
It is the leading forum for the
exploration of architectural ideas,
and the pre-eminent showcase
for building design.
The Biennale is an exposition of
architectural practice and an investigation
of architectural possibilities. It promotes
debate about architectural and urban
design issues confronting communities and
societies all around the world. It’s a hugely
stimulating gathering that brings together
architects with famous careers and young
practitioners with enormous promise. They
all have compelling stories to tell.
The Biennale appeals to an extensive and
highly focussed audience. Along with
thousands of architects, designers and urban
planners, the Biennale attracts numerous
representatives of companies from the
industries that support architecture, the
clients that commission it, the institutions
that teach it, and the media that publish it.
In 2012, 55 countries participated in the
New Zealand Exhibition
Biennale, 180,000 visitors attended it, 3,000
media representatives were accredited to it,
and 80 universities took part in the event’s
educational programme.
The Biennale is an unequalled opportunity
to engage with international architecture
in one of the world’s most inspiring
architectural settings. It is also a way
for participating countries to raise local
awareness of architectural and design
issues. The New Zealand Institute of
Architects (NZIA) is supporting an exhibition
at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.
This is the first time New Zealand has
entered an official exhibition at the Biennale.
It is an exciting venture, and a significant
undertaking. The NZIA wants – and needs –
to work with our partners and sponsors to
make this inaugural exhibition a success.
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The 14th Venice Architecture Biennale
Biennale dates and sites
The 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale is open
to the public from 7 June until 23 November.
Before that, on 5 and 6 June, comes the
Vernissage, an exclusive event that is one of
international architecture’s most prestigious
occasions. The Vernissage is an opportunity to
tour the exhibitions, meet exhibition curators,
and take part in the social events that launch
the Biennale.
The whole city is the setting for the Venice
Architecture Biennale. Some countries have
permanent national pavilions, but many others
stage their exhibitions in historic Venetian
buildings, as New Zealand will do.
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Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
Biennale theme
Each Venice Architecture Biennale has a
theme to which the creators of exhibitions
respond. The theme of the 2014 Biennale,
decided by the event’s director, the
celebrated Dutch architect, Rem Koolhaas,
is ‘Fundamentals’.
Koolhaas will concentrate on what
is common to architecture, and will
examine how universal elements
and principles are expressed in the
architecture of different places.
Fundamentals, he says, will “focus on
histories – on the inevitable elements of
all architecture used by any architect,
anywhere, anytime… and on the
evolution of national architectures in
the last 100 years”.
Fundamentals is not just a theme –
it’s also a provocation. It is Koolhaas’
contention that over the last 100 years
architecture has evolved into “a single,
modern aesthetic”. Koolhaas has
asked the creators of the international
exhibitions to provide some answers
to these questions: In the face of
globalisation, have “unique national
features and mentalities” survived?
And, do national differences have
a place in modern architecture? In
short, are we destined to all be the
same?
Through the consideration of these
issues, Koolhaas believes the 2014 Venice
Architecture Biennale “will generate a
fresh understanding of the richness of
architecture’s fundamental repertoire,
apparently so exhausted today”.
Tony van Raat, New Zealand Exhibition Commissioner
On behalf of the NZIA, Associate
Professor Tony van Raat (Head of the
Department of Architecture, Unitec)
is Commissioner of the New Zealand
Exhibition. In that role, he convened
the panel that judged the applications
for the role of Curator of the New
Zealand Exhibition at the 2014 Venice
Architecture Biennale. Associate
Professor van Raat’s fellow jurors were
Pip Cheshire (Cheshire Architects and
President-elect of the NZIA), Patrick
Clifford (Architectus and former
President of the NZIA), Kerstin Thompson
(Kerstin Thompson Architects and
Victoria University of Wellington), and
Christina Barton (Director, Adam Art
New Zealand Exhibition
Gallery, Victoria University of Wellington).
As Commissioner of the New Zealand
Exhibition, Associate Professor van
Raat is the formal point of contact
with Biennale and Italian government
authorities.
In the course of his academic career
Associate Professor van Raat has
established reciprocal relationships
between New Zealand and Italian
schools of architecture, and has
developed and led numerous study
programmes in Italy. In 2008-2009
he staged a touring exhibition of
New Zealand architecture in
Florence and Rome.
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The New Zealand Exhibition at the
14th Venice Architecture Biennale
David Mitchell, Creative Director of the New Zealand Exhibition
The Creative Director of the New Zealand Exhibition, and leader of the creative
team preparing the exhibition, is David Mitchell. Recognised as one of New
Zealand’s most eminent architects, David is a recipient of New Zealand
architecture’s highest award, the NZIA Gold Medal for career achievement, and
is the architect of numerous award-winning buildings. He was an influential
teacher at the University of Auckland School of Architecture, and is co-author
of The Elegant Shed, one of the most celebrated books on New Zealand
architecture. He has a long-standing interest in Pacific architecture – its
influences, antecedents and applications.
Last
Loneliest
Loveliest
Rem Koolhaas, director of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale,
suggests that over the last 100 years national characteristics
in architecture have given way to a single, ubiquitous modern
language. Around the world, the result is an increasingly
homogeneous architecture.
Perhaps – but it’s more complicated than that. I believe there is a
great unsung Pacific architecture that has become more distinctive
in New Zealand over the last century, as the influence of England
has declined. Unlike European architecture, Pacific architecture
is light-weight, made of posts and beams with panel infills, and
big roofs. You can see it expressed over the course of the last 100
years, from the Māori meeting house to the new Auckland Art
Gallery, and Christchurch’s Cardboard Cathedral.
There has been no better time to focus on the Pacific
in New Zealand architecture.
— David Mitchell
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Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
Portrait photos by Jane Ussher
New Zealand Exhibition Creative Team
1. Mike Austin is a Professor in
the Department of Architecture,
Unitec; throughout his career, he has
undertaken sustained research into
Pacific Architecture.
6. Rick Pearson, director of Pearson
& Associates, is one of New Zealand’s
most experienced exhibition
architects, and the recipient
of numerous design awards.
2. Claire Natusch is an architecture
graduate with Mitchell & Stout
Architects; in the course of her studies
she attended Istituto Statale D’Arte “G.
Chierici”, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
7. Ginny Pedlow is a director of
Mitchell & Stout Architects specialising
in design and urbanism.
3. Chia-Lin Sara Lee is currently
completing her PhD in Architecture;
her research focus is the post-war
cities of Taiwan.
4. Julian Mitchell is a director of
Mitchell & Stout Architects; one
of his areas of expertise is timber
construction.
5. Frances Cooper is a recent graduate
of the University of Auckland and is
the post-graduate category winner
in The Architecture Review’s Global
Architecture Graduate Awards 2013.
New Zealand Exhibition
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8. Julie Stout is a director of Mitchell &
Stout Architects, and currently Adjunct
Professor in the Department
of Architecture, Unitec.
9. David Mitchell is a director of Mitchell
& Stout Architects and the Creative
Director of the New Zealand Exhibition at
the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.
10. Rau Hoskins, Ngāti Hau, Ngāpuhi,
is director of designTRIBE architects,
lecturer in the Department of
Architecture, Unitec, with a strong
focus on Māori architecture; he is
co-author and presenter of the awardwinning television series Whare Māori.
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Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina, site of the
New Zealand Exhibition at the 14th Venice
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Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
Architecture Biennale.
Rialto
Bridge
St. Mark’s
Square
Venue: Palazzo
Pisani Santa Marina
Basilica of Saints
Giovanni and Paolo
New Zealand Exhibition venue
The New Zealand Exhibition,
‘Last, Loneliest, Loveliest’, will be
staged in the centrally-located
Palazzo Pisani Santa Marina, a
few minutes’ walk from the Rialto
Bridge, St Marks Square and
the Basilica of Saints Giovanni
and Paolo.
New Zealand Exhibition
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Audience & Engagement
Audience
The audience for the New Zealand
Exhibition will include architects from New
Zealand practices, graduates and students,
practitioners from related disciplines, corporate
executives and government officials, and
media representatives. Plus, of course, the
international audience that will attend the New
Zealand exhibition and its associated events.
A key component of the audience for the New Zealand Exhibition at the Biennale is
the 2,700 members of the NZIA. The Institute’s membership spans the trajectory of an
architectural career, from students and graduates to partners in large practices, and
covers the range of work undertaken by New Zealand’s architects: residential, commercial
and institutional architecture; urban planning and project management; conservation
architecture and academic teaching.
Around this core audience are other target audiences, comprising the individuals and
organisations which employ architects, commission them, educate them, work alongside
them or supply them with the services and materials they specify, and partner with the
NZIA in its activities.
Target audiences include:
—— Membership of the NZIA
—— Members of related professional and sector organisations
—— New Zealand’s Schools of Architecture (University of Auckland,
Unitec, Victoria University of Wellington) and Design Schools;
international architecture and design teaching institutions and
students
—— Corporate supporters and partners of the NZIA
—— The New Zealand construction industry
—— Central and local government planning and building
departments
—— The specialist and general media
—— New Zealanders with an interest in architecture and design
and supportive of New Zealand’s creative talent.
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Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
Exhibition
promotion
Publicity
Website
The NZIA will create and take
advantage of numerous opportunities
to promote the New Zealand
Exhibition at the Venice Architecture
Biennale. It will also use a variety of
communication tools to publicise
and document the New Zealand
Exhibition.
—— Advertising and editorial in industry
and general publications, including:
A dedicated website,
www.venice.nzia.co.nz, will promote
and record the New Zealand Exhibition.
The website will be linked to the NZIA
website, and identified in publicity
material.
—— The NZIA Bulletin and e-Notices
—— Editorials and event listings
with related organisations and
professional bodies, and in
corporate publications
—— Editorial coverage in professional
and trade print media
—— Editorial coverage (news and
feature articles) in design and
general interest media
The website will be an integral part of
the exhibition’s marketing campaign,
allowing all those interested in the
project to access information about
the exhibition, including details on
the New Zealand Exhibition and its
designers and sponsors, and general
information about the Biennale and
its schedule of events. Press releases
will be posted on the site, as will
photographs of the exhibition, news,
interviews, and comment, including a
Venice-based exhibition blog.
Events
Media
releases
Exhibition
publications
The NZIA will organise a programme
of events, both in New Zealand and
in Venice, to publicise and celebrate
the New Zealand Exhibition at the
2014 Venice Architecture Biennale,
including:
The NZIA will distribute press releases
in the lead-up to and during the
Exhibition. The releases will include
notification of the achievement of
significant milestones, such as the
announcement of the Creative Director
and the opening of the Exhibition
in Venice.
A catalogue will accompany the
exhibition, as will a brochure which
will be distributed to the visitors to
the exhibition.
—— Pre-Biennale presentations in
New Zealand of the New Zealand
Exhibition
Note: Sponsor logos will be included
on all forms of promotional resources
where possible and applicable.
—— Launch events in Venice
—— Post-Biennale presentations in
New Zealand of the Exhibition
New Zealand Exhibition
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Sponsorship
The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2014
Venice Architecture Biennale is a unique
opportunity to be involved with a prestigious
event and an ambitious project.
The exhibition is a highly visible and
targeted means of promoting a relationship
with thousands of New Zealand architecture
and design professionals and demonstrating
industry leadership.
For sponsors, involvement with the New
Zealand Exhibition has a range of benefits,
among them access to exclusive Biennale
events, inclusion in material publicising the
Exhibition and a presence on the NZIA’s
Exhibition communication channels.
Your generous contribution will support
the Exhibition creative team as it designs an
outstanding exhibition that engages with the
Biennale’s provocative theme and with the
Biennale’s audiences. It will help meet the
costs of making, transporting and installing
the Exhibition; the hire of the venue for the
six months of the Biennale and the provision
of accommodation for the volunteers who
will staff the Exhibition; the staging of launch
events and the publication of material
including the Exhibition catalogue.
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Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
Sponsorship benefits
& opportunities
The New Zealand Exhibition offers a wide range of sponsorship
opportunities. This table indicates the benefits available at
various sponsorship levels. The NZIA will work with Exhibition
sponsors to match sponsorship offerings to sponsors’ interests
and requirements.
Amount (cash or in-kind)
Platinum
Gold
Silver
Bronze
$50K+
$25K+
$10K+
$5K+
30
15
10
5
Logo acknowledgement
Sponsor logo at NZ Exhibition in Venice
Sponsor logo on media releases, advertising and collateral
Sponsor logo in Exhibition catalogue
Sponsor logo on NZIA Venice Exhibition website
Sponsor acknowledgement in NZIA e-newsletter
Event
Speaking opportunities at NZ Exhibition opening in Venice
Guided tour of NZ Exhibition in Venice with Creative Director
Complimentary passes to Vernissage preview days
(June 5 and 6, 2014)
Invitations to NZ Exhibition opening party Venice
Complimentary copies of Exhibition catalogue
Pre- and post-event
Speaking opportunities at Exhibition events in NZ
Exclusive presentation by Exhibition creative team in NZ
>
To discuss sponsorship options for your
company or organisation, please contact
Teena Hale Pennington
Chief Executive
New Zealand Institute of Architects
tpennington@nzia.co.nz
09 623 6080
027 527 5273
New Zealand Exhibition
>
The NZIA also welcomes
contributions from
individuals who want to
support the New Zealand
Exhibition. To make a
donation, please contact
Ronnie Kay at the NZIA
rkay@nzia.co.nz;
09 623 6087, or go to the
Exhibition website
www.venice.nzia.co.nz
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Venice Architecture Biennale 2014
Last
Loneliest
Loveliest
The New Zealand Exhibition at the
14th Venice Architecture Biennale
5 June
—23 Nov
2014
New Zealand Exhibition
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