2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture
Opens December 11, 2011
“Architecture Creates Cities. Cities Create Architecture.”
Exhibition Dates: December 8, 2011–February 18, 2012
Vernissage: December 8–11, 2011
Chief Curator: Terence Riley
www.szhkbiennale.org
“Architecture Creates Cities. Cities Create Architecture.” is the title and theme of the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture. The Biennale will portray the unending interaction between architecture and cities, while taking on the discussion of sustainability and urban vitality. Juxtaposing that interaction found in Chinese cities, including Shenzhen and Hong Kong, with that of other cities around the world, the pervasive theme will be seen in the Biennale’s exhibitions, publications and related events.
Chief Curator Terence Riley, the first non-Chinese curator of the Biennale, has conceived of a program that includes more than 30 exhibitions, symposiums, panel discussions and performances. Riley is an architect and partner in the architectural firm K/R, and the former director of the Miami Art Museum. As the Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art New York, he played a key role in overseeing the museum’s expansion in 2004.
Highlights of the Biennale
The program of the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture addresses the challenges of sustainability, vitality, and urban modalities—including reflections on the city and the forum of the Architecture Biennale. The 2011 Biennale brings together more than 100 architects, curators, designers, artists, writers, and other creative individuals whose work expatiates the significance of urbanism and architecture on a broad international and contemporary scale.
Exhibitions include: Ultra-Light Village with projects by Amateur Architecture Studio, Clavel Arquitectos, MOS, OBRA, Studio Up, and Wei Chun Yu; Chinese Cities in Two Views curated by Keyang Tang; 8 Urban Plans curated by Jeffrey Johnson and Xiangning Li and with projects by James Corner Field Operations, Atelier FCJZ, David Chipperfield Architects, Steven Holl Architects, and collaborations between Urbanus and OMA, Qi Xin Atelier and Fang Media, WSP and Woods Bagot Asia, Wu Zhiqiang and Shanghai Tongji Urban Planning & Design Institute; Informal China curated by Jiang Jun and Su Yunsheng; The Ghana ThinkTank: Developing the First World curated by John E. Wing; And Then It Became A City curated by David van der Leer and organized in tandem with 6 Under 60 curated by Rochelle Steiner, Stefano di Martino, Scott S. Fisher and Jennifer Stein; Go West curated by Michiel Hulshof and Daan Roggeveen; The Street curated by Terence Riley and with projects by Atelier Deshaus, Alejandro Aravena, Fake—Industries Architectural Agonism, spbr, SO-IL, J. Mayer H., JohnstonMarkLee, Open Architecture, Aranda Lasch, MAD Architecture, Mass Studies, and Hashim Sarkis; Boom Shenzhen! curated by Mary Ann O’Donnell; Shenzhen Builds curated by Terence Riley with projects by Coop Himmelb(l)au, Massimiliano Fuksas Architetto, Atelier FCJZ, Urbanus and OMA; The Presence of the Past Revisited curated by Aaron Betsky featuring interviews with Denis Scott Brown, Frank O. Gehry, Michael Graves, Allen Greenberg, Leon Krier, Thomas Gordon Smith, Robert A.M. Stern, and Stanley Tigermann; Counterpart Cities curated by Jonathan Soloman and Dorothy Tang with work by Tom Verebes, Stefan Al, Vincci Mak, Doreen Liu, Feng Guochuan, and Zhu Xiong Yu; 10 Million Units: Housing an Affordable City curated by Juan Du; Favela Painting Project by Dre Urhahn and Jeroen Koolhaas; and Rebirth Brick curated by Jiakun Liu.
The 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture will also include a series of International Pavilions selected from the 2010 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Featured in what is termed the Shenzhen Invitational are: Bahrain-Reclaim commissioned by Sh. Mai Al Khalifa and curated by Noura Al Sayeh and Fuad Al Ansari. The Netherlands-Housing with a mission curated by Ole Bouman and co-curated by Jorn Konijn including work by NL Architects, Arons & Gelauff architects, NEXT architects, Barcode architects, KCAP, URBANUS, Standard architects, NODE, O-Office, and CAFA University; Chile-Gimme Shelter! commissioned by Cristobal Molina Baeza and curated by Sebastian Irarrázaval and Hugo Mondragón; Finland-Newly Drawn – Emerging Finnish Architects curated by Martta Louekari with Solution Finland: The Welfare Game (Solution 239-246) written by Martti Kalliala, Jenna Sutela, and Tuomas Toivonen; and Austria-Housing in Vienna: Innovative, Social and Ecological curated by Dietmar Steiner.
The Vernissage of the 2011 Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture will begin with the Special Plaza Project on December 8, 2011 in Shenzhen Citizen’s Plaza. Created by John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi, the project transforms the Civic Square into a platform for performances and events that celebrate the vibrant life of the city. The vernissage features lectures, panel discussions, and performances by many Biennale participants and notable figures in the field of architecture such as: CoopHimmelb(l)au co-founder Wolf Prix, INTI Director Michelle Provoost, Harvard University’s Winnie Wong, Chinese-American design curator and critic Aric Chen, and Hong Kong Biennale curators Gene King and Anderson Lee, among others. Most vernissage events are free and open to the public. Please check the Biennale website for more information.
About the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture
The Biennale responds to the rapid urbanization of the Pearl River Delta, where Shenzhen is located. The biennale considers the ways urban designers and architects face the challenges brought on by unprecedented urbanization in which global warming and sustainable development have become keywords. These issues are more significant and challenging in the context of China’s great resource shortage and are addressed in the various exhibitions, projects and discussions that occur as part of the biennale. The Biennale is the first to focus on urbanism as an ongoing theme to explore issues of the city as an active agent in contemporary culture.
Main Venue:
Shenzhen Civic Square
Organized by:
Shenzhen Municipal Government
Supported by:
Shenzhen Municipal Government
Culture, Sports and Tourism Administration of
Shenzhen Municipality
Co-Organized by:
Shenzhen Media Group
Shenzhen Press Group
Shenzhen University
Shenzhen Public Art Center
To learn more about the Shenzhen & Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, visit www.szhkbiennale.org/en
Media Contacts:
Jeffrey Walkowiak or Ozgur Gungor
Blue Medium
T: +1 212 675 1800
E: Jeffrey@bluemedium.com
Ozgur@bluemedium.com
CM Dong or Tianqi Zhou
Shenzhen Biennale of
Urbanism\Architecture
E: cm.dong@szhkbiennale.org
tianqizhou@szhkbiennale.org
