The Dominican Republic hosts its first pavilion as a participating country at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.
The exhibition explores the impetus and impact of the 1955 World Fair of Peace and Fraternity of the Free World, a definitive moment of national modernization orchestrated by Dictator Rafael Trujillo. While the fairground’s monumental structures were erected in concrete, the material simultaneously became the Dominican Republic’s nation building material of choice. Its use was recommended by law for post- hurricane for its structural properties as well as its aura of progreso.
Titled Fair Concrete/ La Feria Concreta, the exhibition traces the evolution of the fairground. The former pavilions of the Fair that now serve various governmental bodies during the day, are currently co-opted by illicit enterprises at night. From past to present, day to night, formal to informal, linear to non-linear, the fairgrounds imply architectural, social, and cultural characteristics that are distinctly Dominican.
The exhibition presents the fairground’s duality through multiple display devices of juxtaposition framed by a system of local concrete brick typically used for ventilation.
Commissioner: Sachi Hoshikawa.
Deputy Commissioner: Christy Cheng.
Curator: Laboratorio de Arquitectura Dominicana (LAD)
Participants: Juan Castillo, Christy Cheng, Rubén Hernández, Sachi Hoshikawa, Juan Mubarak, Emil Rodríguez Garabot, Shohei Shigematsu
- Open:
Saturday, 07 June 2014 - Close:
Sunday, 23 November 2014 - Address:
Arsenale, Castello, 30122 Venezia - Mail:
info@lad.do - Phone:
+1 809 567 4364 - Web:
Laboratorio de Arquitectura Dominicana - Opening hour:
10am – 6pm - Closing day:
Monday - Admission:
Ticket - Photo credits:
1.Basílica Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia (1971), Source: Bulletin of la Feria de la Paz, Courtesy of Archivo General de la Nación; 2. Tropical Concrete Block (2014) ©LAD; Informal Utopia (2014) ©LAD. Courtesy of Laboratorio de Arquitectura Dominicana (LAD)
