Concept competition for the contribution of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the 16. Architecture Biennale in Venice 2018: Public space is the most important physical freespace for humans to interact. How can it be designed in the future?

Public space in abundance
Urban landscapes with medium population densities are the most widespread form of human settlement activity and mirror the social attainments of the recent past. Built or not, these landscapes are consciously or unconsciously designed by humans. In the process, the unbuilt landscape, or in other words the unbuilt freespace subsequently takes on the role of public space. For instance, legions of leisure activists invade the landscape every day. Other than city centers, these landscapes offer an abundance of public space.

Transformation of the usage of public space
Through digitization and its new and extended forms of information, communication and consumption, the traditional physical public space forfeits many of its inherent duties. On the one hand, there is too much space with rather loose qualities in the urban landscape and on the other hand, a decreasing demand for physical public space can be identified in dense city structures. Probably this will lead to a dramatic and fundamental change of the physical public space.

Creation of model sceneries of public spaces in urban landscapes

Spring 2018 – The Biennale Studio: Public Situations in Urban Landscapes
Together with a professional photographer, students and researchers investigate the potential of public space in the urban landscape of Liechtenstein. The group will develop hypothetical images of the public in future urban landscapes and develop emblematic model scenarios of public spaces with the collaboration of a professional model builder.

Light boxes in the event room of the Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi

Arrangement of the light boxes [red] and models [blue] in the event hall

Summer 2018 – The Biennale Talks: Constructing Public Space
Public event for the launch of the 2018 Architecture Biennale in Venice with leading experts from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and urban research. The event will focus on the pressing question of how urban landscapes can be spatially developed in the face of the dramatic change to which contemporary public space is exposed.

Selection of photographic works on the theme of man-made landscapes [all pictures by Marc Latzel, including cover picture]

Winter 2018/2019 – Exhibition & Symposium: The Future of Public Space
The Biennial Talks are the prelude to a series of activities on the topic of public space to be held in Liechtenstein. A public, cross-faculty symposium at the university, the exhibition of the biennial contribution on site and the publication of a publication complete the contribution. In addition, for example, an art exhibition on the current relationship between man and the environment could also establish a link with an extended audience (comparable to the exhibition of William Jenkins "New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape" from 1975).

By contributing with a relevant and controversial topic, the Principality of Liechtenstein can position itself as a leading trendsetting innovator at the 2018 International Architecture Biennale. The invited podium guests, politicians, experts and the interested public can be sensitized for building culture, urban research and the spatial qualities of the territory and brought into contact with representatives of the country.