Pavilions that host exhibitions for the Venice Biennale are boarded up for six months every year, and Dutch studio RAAAF thinks a better solution would be to cover each one with a veil of fabric.
Covering the Nordic Pavilion, built by architect in 1962, will involve leaving openings for trees
There are 30 national pavilions in the Venice Giardini, the park that forms one of the two main venues of the art and architecture biennales. During the winter season, most of these are sealed up and many are subjected to graffiti.
Fabric could cover the entirety of the 1912-built French Pavilion, including its grand portico
RAAAF ? a multidisciplinary studio based in Amsterdam ? claims this transforms the park into an "urban wasteland". Working with artist Marcel Moonen, it has developed a solution it believes could make the space more welcoming for visitors. RAAAF proposes a three-way folded veil for the Dutch Pavilion, where it put on the Vacant NL exhibition in 2010
The team suggests wrapping each structure with an engineered textile shroud. These coverings would protect the buildings from vandalism and shelter them from bad weather.
The result would be a transformation of architecture into abstract sculptures, according to the designers. RAAAF calls the project Giardini in Silence.
Dark fabric is proposed to cover the German pavilion, which was originally designed by Daniele Donghi, but later rebuilt under Hitler's order to a more modern desi...