Places For People - Venice Architecture Biennale

Germany and Austria Will Address Refugee Crisis at 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale

Photo: Philipp Reiss via makingheimat.de

Germany will present a range of different innovative housing solutions for refugees at the upcoming architecture biennale.

Ahead of the opening of the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale in May 2016, Austria and Germany have revealed that both their exhibits will present architectural solutions to the European refugee crisis.

According to a press release, the design concept behind the German Pavilion “is meant to make a statement about the current political situation.”

Curated by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), “Making Heimat. Germany, Arrival Country” will focus on creative housing formats to serve the influx of asylum seekers. Entries have been gathered by the DAM since it issued a call for proposals last October.

A “Refugee Housing Database,” established in collaboration with the architecture magazine Bauwelt and gatheringproposals for buildings for refugees designed and built in Germany, will go live on the website www.makingheimat.de tomorrow, March 10.

Organizers have stressed that Germany’s entry reflects the “enormous efforts being made by everyday citizens” who have ensured that “integration is something conspicuous within the urban fabric.”

Over the last 18 months, Germany has taken in over 1 million refugees fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.

READ MORE: Artnet News

SOURCE: Artnet News