back to the future
The future has been erased. Imagination, exhausted by successive crises, continual innovations and immediate returns on investment, collides with a closed horizon; Drunk with nostalgia, any long-term vision has been dismissed as utopian, a mere fantasy - until one collides with dystopia. Yet architecture's overriding task has always been to deal with the future: we still experience structures built decades or even centuries ago. Where have we lost our way? The fifth edition of the biennale svizzera del territorio is a call to imagination. A call to reclaim the future and to design together alternatives to the slow unfolding of the present.
Biennale svizzera del territorio
A regional and national event with international appeal. It is a high-level event that opens the doors of Villa Saroli to territorial experts and architects, as well as to the general public. The event addresses the many different stakeholders involved in the Baukultur process - including media and political actors. With this open approach, the Biennale contributes to the discussion on the social, economic and spatial changes taking place within today’s society.
past editions
2022 2020 2018 2016
istituto internazionale di architettura
a centre for urban culture dedicated to exploring issues related to the territory and sustainability. A place of openness and debate, it believes in architecture as a tool for interpreting and understanding the great transformations of the contemporary world. It encourages the participation of civil society, professionals and institutions in the formulation of a design vision for the future of the territory we live in. It involves citizens of all age groups through different languages and formats, with a programme that includes conferences, meetings, exhibitions, summer schools and workshops. Founded in 1983 in Vico Morcote as the European headquarters of SCI-Arc - Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, since 2015 the Institute has been based in Villa Saroli, in the centre of Lugano.
curators’ biographies
curators’ biographies
Ludovica Molo
Is an architect and director of the Istituto Internazionale di Architettura in Lugano.
Caspar Schärer
Is an architect and journalist, secretary general of the Federation of Swiss Architects (BSA-FAS).
Marc Frochaux
Is an art historian, architect and editor-in-chief of Tracés.
Cyril Veillon
Is director of the Archizoom exhibition space at EPFL Lausanne.
Ariane Widmer Pham
Is an architect and urbanist, cantonal planner of Geneva.
Heike Biechteler
Is an architect and senior research assistant at the Institute of Architecture at HSLU.
Co-curator of the biennale svizzera del territorio 2024.
website: responsiva