Open Call: The Biennale as MetabolismOpen Call: The Biennale as Metabolism

Every two years, the international architecture community travels to Venice to be inspired by the exhibitions, to meet old friends and new people, to reflect on architecture and urbanism and to discuss the urgent issues facing the field. Against the backdrop of a city that is suffering the effects of climate change and trying to cope under the weight of the tourism industry, numerous discussions about sustainability arise. But where is the city of Venice in these discussions? How can the biennale itself, and all its participants, contribute to a sustainable future for the generous city host of this event? How much does Venice get in return, apart from financial profit and even more visitors?

These questions have been asked for years by We Are Here Venice, an action group and research institute that strives for a sustainable and livable future for Venice. Together with We Are Here Venice and a group of actors who share the same ambition, Nieuwe Instituut has taken the initiative to develop a multi-year research project that can lead to a model for a sustainable biennial in particular, as well as more sustainable international exhibitions on such platforms in general. We Are Here Venice will embed this research in the local communities of Venice and ensure that Venetian knowledge, methods, and processes concerning materials and reuse are shared.

The research aims to uncover an image of the biennale that no visitor has seen or been able to see. It offers a glimpse of the incoming and outgoing flows of materials, transport, labour and waste that are inherent in the construction of the pavilion exhibitions. For this research, Nieuwe Instituut has joined forces with Superuse, an architectural firm based in Rotterdam, which has been designing strategies for building with recycled materials for over 25 years in order to reduce its ecological footprint. To stimulate research and involve the architectural community in the Netherlands, this open call is being organised together with the Creative Industries Fund NL.

The outcomes, in the form of ways to make the creation of exhibitions circular or even regenerative, will be shared with other national pavilions participating in the biennale. This will offer the opportunity to discuss and collaborate together.

The 18th edition of La Biennale di Venezia will run from 20 May to 26 November 2023 and is being developed under the artistic direction of architect and researcher Lesley Lokko. The overarching theme is the Laboratory of the Future. Lokko's full statement as curator can be read online.

The research project within which this open call is taking place is separate from the Dutch pavilion and its exhibition theme, which have yet to be announced. The intent is to link them together, in the way that Lokko links the notion of decolonisation to that of cutting carbon use, or the way she aligns definitions of the word 'laboratory' with sociologist Richard Sennett's use of the etymologically closely related word 'workshop'. Sennett's analysis lends a different kind of depth to the concept of collaborative work: the shared commitment as a valued institution that holds society together.

Nieuwe Instituut and Creative Industries Fund NL are calling on (landscape) architects, urban planners and spatial researchers to submit proposals for (research) projects aimed at visualising and analysing material and waste flows, production chains, transport movements and workers, for projects aimed at different material use and reuse, or projects focused on the design of circular systems, with attention to the local context. Preference will be given to programmes that include collaborations with researchers and practitioners, institutions and organisations in the Netherlands and abroad.

Both individuals and collectives can take part. A team will be created with the authors of the approved proposals and Superuse architects. Team members will work together on making the invisible impact of the biennale apparent.

Participants can approach the theme The Biennale as Metabolism in various ways:

• Visualising and analysing material and waste flows that arise around (for example) the biennale;
• Visualising and analysing production chains, reflecting on labour and transport movements, for international exhibitions, such as the biennale;
• Providing insight into the possible spatial, political, ecological or social consequences of a biennial in the local context;
• Presenting designs of circular systems based on the alternative use of materials.

Projects can be of various kinds. For example, they can take the form of:

• New architecture and design research;
• Additional research for existing projects that may have been presented before but are still under development;
• Projects aimed at propagating knowledge, such as events, symposia, workshops and publications;
• Innovative collaborations with institutions or organisations, with clear and communicable results;
• Digital tools or software solutions;
• Speculative or artistic interventions and events.

The programme is being developed in parallel with the Dutch pavilion but is not part of the Dutch biennial entry. In other words: qualifying projects will not be featured in the Dutch pavilion.

Nieuwe Instituut and the Creative Industries Fund NL will appoint an advisory committee that will make the selection for the public parallel programme. This committee will assess each plan on the basis of the following three criteria:

• Its relation to the theme of The Biennale as Metabolism;
• Its relevance in the field of contemporary architecture;
• Its capacity to address relevant subject-related and social issues and to use various channels for their propagation.

Nieuwe Instituut and the Creative Industries Fund NL will appoint an advisory committee that will make the selection for the public parallel programme. This committee will assess each plan on the basis of the following three criteria:

• Its relation to the theme of The Biennale as Metabolism;
• Its relevance in the field of contemporary architecture;
• Its capacity to address relevant subject-related and social issues and to use various channels for their propagation.

The assessment of this open call takes the form of a tender: this means that a number of proposals will be chosen over the others within the available budget.

Nieuwe Instituut and the Creative Industries Fund NL expect to support at least two and at most five projects, with a maximum contribution of ¬25,000 per project. A maximum budget of ¬50,000 has been made available for the call.

Only positively assessed projects can be supported. The handling and assessment of the submitted proposals will take place within the framework of the Open Call Regulations of the Creative Industries Fund NL and on the basis of the criteria of the Open Call for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. For each application, the committee will make a recommendation to the Board of the Creative Industries Fund NL. Deviating from the Open Call Regulations, the following regulation provisions do not apply:
Article 7.2
Article 8.4

Acknowledgment of receipt and selection announcement You will receive a confirmation of receipt from the online application environment of the Creative Industries Fund NL no later than one week after the closing date. The selection will be announced on the online application environment by the end of October 2022 at the latest. The Creative Industries Fund will communicate regarding the selected proposals exclusively on the website. Rejected applicants will be notified.

For questions about the open call, please contact Ibrahim Alaoui Chrifi: i.alaouichrifi@stimuleringsfonds.nl or Dominique Geelen: d.geelen@stimuleringsfonds.nl or call: +31 (0)10-4361600.

This open call is now closed. Read more about the three selected projects here.