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Vertical Venice: Design studio proposes new urban future

By Peter Firth 02 : 09 : 2012 Office : Future : Spaces

Caracas, Venezuela – Interdisciplinary design studio Urban Think Tank, London-based architecture critic Justin McGuirk and photographer Iwan Baan have won the Golden Lion award at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale with their Torre David/Gran Horizonte installation.

Torre David/Gran Horizonte by Urban Think Tank and Iwan Baan

Torre David/Gran Horizonte by Urban Think Tank and Iwan Baan

Torre David/Gran Horizonte by Urban Think Tank and Iwan Baan

The installation is a documentation of the Torre David improvised housing project in Venezuela, a 45-storey office building that was never completed. The Torre David is now inhabited by 750 families who would otherwise be living in the city’s barrios.

Visitors to the installation are invited to share a meal in a Venezuelan restaurant. The layout is designed to ignite discussion surrounding social spaces as the future of the urban environment, and Iwan Baan’s photographs of the Torre David are hung in the space.

The Biennale project looks at the building as a template for future cities, and explores how the cityscapes will grow organically rather than under direction from architects or private enterprise. Emerging cityscapes will be explored in more detail at our forthcoming Trend Briefing.

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