Announcement: Venice Architecture Biennale

16.06.08

Allen Jack+Cottier has been invited to enter the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale. Viewed as the intersection of art and architecture, the festival is expected to attract 130,000 international visitors.

Exhibitors are required to submit an interpretative model of an architectural project. The practice has focused on recent experiences in Vietnam where the property sector is booming. ‘Mr Pasteur’ is a conceptual departure from Pasteur – an office tower designed by Director Michael Heenan, in conjunction with Senior Associate John Gunnell and Associate Fergus Cumming. The catalogue elaborates: ‘The rapid economic growth of Vietnam is providing many Australian architects with the opportunity to work in a new context. As a practice with international operations, Allen Jack+Cottier has entered this dynamic environment with a spirit of exploration. Fittingly, Pasteur embraces a playfulness often found in the act of discovery.

‘The pronounced gold curl of a lift and services core is decidedly tongue-in-cheek, alluding to the whimsy of Australian cartoonist Michael Leunig and his creation, ‘Mr Curly’. In contrast the oculus sees to the future and the dark and foreboding portents of capitalism coming to the city.’