EXHIBITIONS
TRIENNALE I
I TRIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM – BOLOGNA 1992
With its first edition in 1992 the ‘International TRIENNIAL of Architecture and Town Planning A vision of Europe’ is born in Bologna: a periodical exposition by the most successful projects of the city and its territory, in line with trend which is currently popular, has been made or planned by the old continent, and above all by the EEC countries, between one and the other edition. An evidence of the qualitative progress.
The incomparable wealth of monuments and excellent spatial organisation, which is the first sign of the oldest and most valuable western culture, must be raised up for the pleasure and the benefit not only of Europe, if this still has the fundamental role of civilization in the world.
Beyond the most direct and immediate professional aspects, there is already a group of educated and responsible architects, on the way to achieve such a goal. Their number is bound to increase, until one day the youngest ones will be able to rejoice in admiring a more human urban arrangement, which has also been determined by their intelligence.
The experience of A vision of Europe 1992 also encourages the commitment of the most sensitive and intelligent public administrators and private entrepreneurs in order to block the tearing up of the image of our culture.
TRIENNALE II
II TRIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM – BOLOGNA 1996
THE CITY OF THE NEW RENAISSANCE
International Conference of contemporary architecture and town planning held in Bologna at the A VISION OF EUROPE TRIENNALE II dedicated to URBAN RENAISSANCE
Summary of an important event which was crowned with success: the international meeting LA CITTA DEL NUOVO RINASCIMENTO”. About 300 participants including architects, engineers, councillors, entrepreneurs, critics and historians of architecture from 15 countries including Guatemala, Portugal, Slovenia, Turkey, Korea, etc. took part in the meeting in the Apse of Santa Lucia of the University of Bologna between the afternoon of 27th March to the end of the 30th, with a joint visit to the display in San Giorgio in Poggiale on the morning of the 28th.
The texts of the papers, contributions and interventions will be published in the “Proceedings”.
After the opening speech of the Rector of the University, given by Prof. Arrigo Pareschi, Head of the Faculty of Engineering and Ivo Tagliaventi, chairman of the Committee A Vision of Europe, work began with the presentation of Thomas Gordon Smith, Head of the School of Architecture of the University of Notre Dame of Sound Bend, USA and the introductory speech by David Watkin of the University of Cambridge on Urban renaissance in Europe and Carroll Willam Westfall of the University of Virginia on Urban renaissance in America.
The topics of the five sessions entitled “URBAN RENAISSANCE AND HISTORIC CITY”, “RENAISSANCE OF THE SUBURBS”, “INNOVATIONS FOR URBAN RENAISSANCE IN EUROPE”, “THE NEW CITIES OF URBAN RENAISSANCE”, “MESSAGES FOR THE HABITAT II CONFERENCE”, co-ordinated respectively by Luciana Ravanel, Elio Piroddi, Benito De Sivo, Alberto Corlaita and Gabriele Tagliaventi, were dealt with in order by Maurice Culot, Alberto Ustarroz, Léon Krier, Caroline Mierop, Giuseppe Imbesi, Paolo Marconi, Brian Hanson, Richard John, Elizabeth Platter-Zyberk, Jorge Hernandez, Lucien Steil, Cesare Cassi Macchia and Michael Lykoudis.
The debate between designers, entrepreneurs and administrators on EXPERIENCES COMPARED, co-ordinated by Gianozzo Pucci, was joined by Adolfo C. Dell’Acqua, Esat Edin, Robert Davis and Jean François Lejeune as well as councillors and city council technicians.
Before work started, the congress-goers unanimously applauded the following message to Prince Charles:
“Just one week ago, the city of Bologna had the privilege and honour to receive the visit of HRH Prince Charles for the opening of the IInd Triennial of Architecture and City building Urban Renaissance as a further concrete and effective token of his noble interest in the destiny of the “City” already shown in Bologna on 29th September 1992, when he came to open the Ist Triennial. Today, the participants of the international conference The City of the New Renaissance, architects and engineers from several countries of Europe and America, would like to pay their greatest respects to HRH, a sensitive spokesman for the basic requirements of safeguarding urban quality according to age-old traditions of architectural civilization.
The participants at the conference would like to express their satisfaction for the profitable activity performed by HRH the Prince of Wales in promoting exemplary enterprises of new urban developments and in guiding many young architects throughout the world towards the careful study of the relations between man and the environment, between idea and expression of art, between architectural form and organization of space.
The participants at the conference The City of the New Renaissance hope that the next international meeting of architects and engineers in Bologna promoted by A Vision of Europe, a direct derivation of A Vision of Britain set up by the Prince of Wales, may also be honoured with the presence of his Royal Highness.”
At the end of the Conference, as a pleasant initiative and sign of great esteem and friendship, Erling Okkenhaug, Co-ordinator of the Norwegian association ALLGREEN – ALLGRØNN, Brains Trust for Universal Thinking, presented Ivo Tagliaventi, as Chairman of the Committee A Vision of Europe, with the “Ondurdis Award, consisting of a work in bronze by the sculptor Arne Vinje Gunnerud.
TRIENNALE III
III TRIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM – BOLOGNA 2000
THE OTHER MODERN: THE TRADITIONAL CITY AND ITS ARCHITECTURE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
THE EXHIBITION
The Other Modern: The Traditional City and its Architecture in the Twentieth Century, is an exhibition and conference that will examine 20th century traditional urbanism and architecture from two directions: one looking back, from an historical perspective and the other, looking forward, drawing lessons from the past for a vision of the new millennium. The exhibition will revisit the history of architecture of the Twentieth Century by highlighting the Modern traditional city and its architecture from 1900 to 1999. Until recently, architectural historians have equated ‘modern’ with the modernist movement. Yet Twentieth Century modern architecture and urbanism have not been exclusively modernist. By definition, the term ‘modern’ sits in contradistinction to modernism. The former refers to current times whereas the latter identifies a specific historical ideology.
Despite the modernist representation of history as a continual, inevitable progression away from tradition, modern cities, neighborhoods and buildings were built throughout the Twentieth Century that adapted the tradition of classical and vernacular architecture to the current conditions of life and society.
In fact, the regional and national values of The Other Modern have been powerful forces of architectural and urban progress, and they have gained a renewed and emotional presence in the closing years before the millennium. The yearning for such buildings and places has increased as the integrity of the traditional urban environments has been eroded and destroyed. Throughout the world, cultures have continued to design, build and reconstruct cities and buildings governed with notions of permanence and continuity as a way of establishing meaning for themselves and future generations.
The traditional city is manifested through time tested principles of construction, building typologies, and urban organizations, nature providing the reference point that ties the myriad of cultures to the human condition.
The diversity of traditional and vernacular architectural expressions create a dialogue between the idea of the universal and the specific building traditions of a region. The Other Modern exhibition will consist of original drawings and photographs of buildings and urban interventions selected in archives and museums around the world. In addition, new models and drawings, including by computers, will be constructed in various university schools of architecture. With this mix of material the curators intend to create an exhibition that appeals to a large public, including high schools’ students, developers, public officials, etc. The exhibition includes projects and built works by Gunnar Asplund (Sweden), Lina Bo Bardi (Brasil), Dom Bellot (France-Canada), David Brutzkus (Israel), Alexeï Chtchoussev (Russia), Michel De Klerk (Holland), Hassan Fathy (Egypt), Raymond Hood (USA), Leon & Rob Krier (Luxemburg), Edwin Lutyens (England), Luis Moya (Spain), Ragnar Ostberg (Sweden), Auguste Perret (France), Marcello Piacentini (Italy), Dimitris Pikionis (Greece), Josef Plecnik (Czech Republic), Richard Riemerschmid (Germany), Eriel Saarinen (Finland), François Spoerry (France), Robert Stern (USA), Heinrich Tessenow (Germany), and dozens of others. Moreover the exhibition will examine important contributions such as the garden cities, the university campuses, the regionalist and vernacular movements (the Neo-Mediterranean Style, etc. ), and the reconstruction of the cities devastated during the first and second World Wars.
THE CATALOGUE
The Italian and English versions of the catalogue will contain 520 pages and more than 800 illustrations in black & white and colors. The first section consists of historical and theoretical essays; the second presents and analyzes the development of The Other Modern chronogically and typologically throughout the Twentieth Century. The final section deals with Visions for the New Millenium.
Authors include Matthew Bell, Maurice Culot, Victor Deupi, Léon Krier, Denis Hector, Jorge Hernandez, Jean-François Lejeune, Michael Lykoudis, Catherine Lynn, Caroline Mierop, Demetri Porphyrios, Vincent Scully, Gabriele Tagliaventi, David Watkin, Carroll William Westfall, etc.
THE ORGANIZERS
The Other Modern will be the centerpiece of the third edition of the International Triennale of Architecture and Urbanism of Bologna in 2000. It follows the first two editions organized in 1992-3 and 1995-6 by A Vision of Europe and the events set up in Alexandria and Chicago by the Classical Architecture League. Created in 1992 by a group of architects, engineers, architectural historians directed by Ivo Tagliaventi, the not-for-profit association promotes the preservation of historic cities and neighborhoods as well as the transformation and development of suburban and periurban areas into new traditional neighborhoods based upon a structure of streets, blocks, and squares. Supported by the EEC Commission and with the collaboration of important European and American private and public institutions, both Triennales culminated in an exhibition inaugurated by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales and held at the Centro San Giorgio in Poggiale in the core of Bologna, and at other venues in Brussels, Istanbul (United Nations Conference Habitat II), Oslo, San Sebastián, Bilbao, Lisbon. The Third Triennale is jointly organized by The New Architecture Group, a network of European and American institutions with extensive experience in the organization of architectural events. The exhibition will open in Bologna in the spring, and at the end of the year in Oslo and San Sebastian before going to Chicago, Washington D.C. and New York. It is expected that after 2000 the exhibition will travel to other locations around the world.
Curators:
Michael Lykoudis, University of Notre Dame: tel: 001-219-631 6168 fax: 001-219-631 8486
Gabriele Tagliaventi, University of Ferrara, Italy: tel: 39-051-233 717 fax: 39-051-222 329
TRIENNALE IV
IV TRIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM – BOLOGNA 2004
NEW CIVIC ARCHITECTURE: THE ECOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVE TO SUB-URBANIZATION
THE LARGEST INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION ON RECENT BUILT WORKS AND PROJECTS
FOR AN ECO-SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
“When the next “Vision of Europe” Number 3 takes place in a few years’ time, I hope that by then we shall have taken these civilising ideals even further and that the new Millennium will usher in a new Renaissance in the way our cities are viewed, and provide an opportunity for the vision we share to be realised”.
H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES, Bologna 1996.
Some years have passed since the first edition of the A Vision of Europe Triennale, and today, as we are approaching the 4th edition, at the very beginning of the 3rd Millennium, the words of the Prince have turned into reality.
The alternative to Sub-Urbanization today is finally available. It is possible to build new plazas and squares, a new public realm, new public buildings as well as new residential settlements according to an ecologically-oriented attitude. It is possible to design and build new urban neighborhoods, demolishing brutal peripheral housing areas built in the second half of the past century, while transforming decaying sub-urban areas into true mixed-use urban neighborhoods.
A new attitude towards the importance of a balanced relationship between urban development and natural eco-system is currently spreading all over the world. A New Civic Architecture.
An architecture based upon civic principles and aiming at contributing to the construction of a true organic city, a place where citizens can exchange ideas as well as goods within a friendly environment.
The 4th edition of the A Vision of Europe Triennale will be dedicated to New Civic Architecture through an international exhibition and a conference where more than 100 projects and built works will be presented as an ecological alternative to sub-urbanization.
For the first time will be displayed in a coherent exhibition interventions in urban areas from more than 20 countries from Europe, the Americas, India, Australia, etc., all showing the new consciousness towards the principles of a sustainable development.
DEMOLISHING ECO-MONSTERS AND TRANSFORMING BRUTALIST SUB-URBAN AREAS
INTO URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS TODAY IS POSSIBLE
The alternative to Sub-Urbanization today is finally available. It is possible to build new plazas and squares, a new public realm, new public buildings as well as new residential settlements according to an ecologically-oriented attitude. It is possible to design and build new urban neighborhoods, demolishing brutal peripheral housing areas built in the second half of the past century, while transforming decaying sub-urban areas into true mixed-use urban neighborhoods. A new attitude towards the importance of a balanced relationship between urban development and natural eco-system is currently spreading all over the world. A New Civic Architecture.
An architecture based upon civic principles and aiming at contributing to the construction of a true organic city, a place where citizens can exchange ideas as well as goods within a friendly environment.
In fact, in the age of Globalization citizens all around the world are confronted with the choice between two alternative patterns of developments: the sub-urban system and the urban.
TRIENNALE IV OFFICIAL SPONSOR
TRIENNALE V
V TRIENNALE OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM – BOLOGNA 2009
TOWARDS NEW ECO-COMPACT CITIES: BUILDING A SMART GROWTH WORLD
NEW ECO-COMPACT CITIES FOR THE WORLD THAT EMERGES FROM THE CRISIS
The world that emerges from the most serious economic crisis since 1929 needs cities radically different from those of the past century based upon automobile and sprawl.
The new urban policy carried out by President Barack Obama is clear about that.
The new cities should be ecologically conceived, compact, and efficient.
No more skyscrapers floating in a desert of car-parking.
No more suburbs that consume our precious countryside.
No more polluting commercial malls.
No more sprawl that creates a territory impossible to manage, degraded, and unsafe.
New Eco-Efficient Cities will be based upon compactness, mixed-use, retail, pedestrian accessibility,
and an efficient system of public transportation.
To answer this challenging issue, A VISION OF EUROPE presents the 5th edition of Bologna’s International Triennale Exhibition of Architecture and Urbanism.
Triennale V includes:
– an international exhibition featuring 88 new towns, cities, urban neighborhoods, districts,
villages selected by the 2008 European Prize Philippe Rotthier;
– an international conference with more than 100 architects, urban planners, public and
private administrators from all over the world;
– the publication of A GUIDE TO ECO-EFFICIENT CITIES as a fundamental tool for
professionals, administrators, and citizens who are willing to design and build according to
a true sustainable development.
Among the Eco-Efficient Cities presented at Triennale V, the new urban center at Plessis Robinson
awarded the first prize at the European Prize Philippe Rotthier 2008. The most successful case in the
Paris metropolitan region of a “hard banlieue” re-generated through the demolition of some 2,400
housing units built in the 1960s and 70s and the construction of a new Eco-garden City conceived
according to the principles of the sustainable development.
THE MOST EFFICIENT CITIES ARE TODAY COMPACT CITIES
The best cities today, the most efficient ones, are today compact cities. And compact cities are, generally, large-scale cities.
This is the revolutionary result of an international research on the VIPER done by a network of important American and European universities (University of Miami, University of Notre Dame, University of Ferrara) and centers of research (INTBAU-London, AVOE-Bologna, Fondation pour l’Architecture-Bruxelles). It radically changes the concept of a small and medium-sized cities as the most desirable in terms of urban environment.
Today, in fact, small-size and medium-size cities are constantly menaced by large-scale commercial malls that deeply contribute to transform inner city neighborhoods into a dangerous desert area.
It mostly happens in Europe where the new commercial malls daily attract thousands of cars, thus causing the explosion of pollution rates. The increasing level of CO2 emission by the citizens abandoning cities and going to mall parking areas together with the decay of inner city neighborhoods and districts put small and medium-size cities in danger in case of a oil-crisis.
The results of the VIPER research will be presented at Bologna Triennale V and show clearly that today sprawl is not desirable. The compact city is the most efficient and the most desirable one.
Among the historic cities Paris gets number 1. While new compact cities are today emerging all over the world.
AVOE – A Vision Of Europe
CSS – Centro Studi Città Sana
Dipartimento di Ingegneria
Università degli Studi di Ferrara
Via Saragat, 1 – 44124 Ferrara FE
e-mail: civicarch@unife.it
tel. +39-0532-974915
