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title. Australia Pavilion

date. Fall 2017

city. Biennale Grounds, Venice, Italy

THE AUSTRALIAN PAVILION

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The lightweight steel pavilion with its elevated decks was inspired by modernist Australian architecture, and attempts to bring a small piece of Australia to Italy by capturing a reminiscent grassland inside.  The Venice Biennale Gardens, with their unique and multicultural pavilions, offered the perfect grounds to experiment with the capabilities of steel.  With an emphasis on elegance, a 5' module was developed and tested for its ability to be repeated while also creating a rich and varied sequence of art galleries. A collection of simple, lightweight elements were brought together to form a series of screened walls and roof panels around a sturdy moment frame, with a thin, long-span space truss used to accent the main gallery space.  Walls can rotate on a ball bearing supports, allowing for easy modification of spaces and a varied level of connection between the courtyard and the interior gallery spaces.  Water, a precious commodity on the Australian continent, is put on display as it's collected and returned to the earth, and visitors can connect with Venice's iconic canals on a series of lookout decks.  Developing the pavilion was an exercise in how a collection of small, simple elements can come together to form an elegant whole, and offer a rich and meaningful experience for visitors.

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