Caruso St John to curate the British Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale

The British Pavilion. Photography: John Riddy, courtesy of the British Council

Caruso St John Architects and artist Marcus Taylor have been picked to curate next year’s British Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale – and Brexit’s playing on their minds…

The winning concept, dubbed Island, engages with the theme of ‘Freespace’ set by biennale curators, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects.

It was unanimously selected by a panel of experts, including the British Council’s director of architecture, design and fashion, Sarah Mann, architect Amanda Levete, artist Pablo Bronstein and V&A Dundee director Philip Long.

Caruso St John and Marcus Taylor, curators of the 2018 British Pavilion. Photography: Lucia Scerancova (c) British Council

‘In the year before Brexit, we plan to transform the building into a generous public space that can be a popular meeting point within the gardens of the Biennale,’ says Peter St John, practice cofounder.

The curatorial team borrowed a line from Shakespeare’s The Tempest to set the tone for its upcoming intervention, commissioned by the British Council: ‘Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises; Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.’

See how it translates when the 16th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia kick off on 26 May 2018.