Reflections on HOME at the Venice Architecture Biennale
HOME at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo: Peter Bennets, courtesy Australian Institute of Architects
GML was at the Venice Architecture Biennale for the opening of HOME, an immersive experience shaped by Indigenous knowledge systems and architectural innovation. GML’s Head of Heritage Places, Rebecca Hawcroft, shares her reflections on this thought-provoking work.
The first days of the Biennale have a buzz of excitement and the sound of construction tools as all the different country pavilions scramble to finish their often-ambitious designs. The Gardini is a fantastic mix of architecturally notable pavilions and major countries vying to gain the most attention. Tucked away, on a steep site beside the canal that runs through it, is the elegant black box of the Australia Pavilion.
This year’s creative directors, Dr Michael Mossman, Jack Gillmer-Lilley and Professor Emily McDaniel, and their expanded creative sphere, are the first all Indigenous team to curate the pavilion. The team brought the relational strength of Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural practices and design to the creation of HOME.
Key to the project had been months, if not years, of engagement with tertiary institutions across Australia and in Venice, connecting the program to academic curricula, with students engaging deeply with the values that the pavilion represented: connection, respect for Country and collaboration. The creative sphere had also embraced multi-generations of First Nations architects, another example of the work’s power through practice.
Walking into the pavilion space bought a hushed reverie. The restrained design of a rammed earth encircling wall, sand circle, and angled walls lined with panels of tactile plaster, incised with a shelf of maquettes all reflecting individual responses to the HOME theme. Everything could be touched. You were asked to sit, to think and to share. It was clearly a place of ceremony that gave it a quiet respectfulness.
In the days after opening, the tireless curatorial team hosted daily talks where the pavilion came to life as a place of stories and connection. There was no text on the walls; this was a space where voices carried the message or it was experienced through materials, light and space.
Thoughtfully designed using local materials and their ability to return to a circular system, the pavilion embodied a strong focus on care and connection to place. It offered a compelling demonstration of Designing with Country—and what this can mean when embedded into architectural practice. The work, talent and commitment of the team was palpable, which along with the support of the Australian Institute of Architects, resulted in something to be proud of. Strong First Nations voices occupying a confident place on the international stage.
GML is honoured to support HOME as a Network Venice Partner.
‘…the pavilion came to life as a place of stories and connection. There was no text on the walls; this was a space where voices carried the message or it was experienced through materials, light and space.’
HOME in the Australia Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale. Photo: Peter Bennets, courtesy Australian Institute of Architects