Venice Biennale 2010: A Tale of Two Cities

The city’s virtual model floats above guiding its consumption and renewal. 

Visible as a hologram high above the city its doppelganger, auditing and guiding development. An aspiration, a virtual model, the rule of law, and a talisman, it is bound to the real. 

An analytical laboratory receiving design proposals for buildings, infrastructure and industry; it puts them to test of sustainable performance, social impact and urban intervention. A life-cycle, cradle-to-cradle, test in the virtual city is a prerequisite for realisation. 

The doppelganger has ritualised the cyclic dismantling, recycling and renewal of the city. As with the decomposition and absorption of waste, the built environment is a perpetually changing reflection of our cultures seen in relation to that which we think to discard, before we think to invent. 

Designed for Australia’s official pavilion at 2010’s La Bienale di Venezia (Venice Biennale), NOW and WHEN: Australian Urbanism. Headed by directors Ivan Rijavec and John Gollings, it showcases Australian architectural thinking and culture by looking into potential designs of a future Australian city in 2050 and beyond.

Completed – 2010, 3D visualisation by FLOODSLICER

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Venice Biennale 2010: A Tale of Two CitiesBernita Edwards