The 2008 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennial will spotlight experimental architecture and utopian visions rather than revisiting existing buildings, the event's director, Aaron Betsky, has announced.
Betsky said the festival, entitled 'Out There: Architecture Beyond Building', would try to shake off conventional approaches to the subject.
''The challenge of the 11th exhibition is to bring together and encourage experimentation with ephemeral subjects, visions of other worlds, or tangible evidence of a better world,'' said Betsky, who is also the former head of the renowned Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam.
''This biennial will not feature buildings that already exist and that are used for everyday life. It will not propose abstract solutions to social problems.
''Instead it will try to see if architecture, experimenting in and with reality, can offer concrete alternative forms and seductive images''.
The festival will feature a number of sections, exploring different aspects of architecture.
'Installations' will feature pieces specially designed and created for the event.
''These installations will be extremely large and will be accompanied by manifestos for architecture that look beyond construction,'' explained Biennial President Paolo Baratta.
Around 20 pieces will be featured in this section, along with their creators' ''visionary statements of intent and utopian imaginings''.
Another section will highlight experimental works by young architects, as well as six established 'Masters of the Experiment'.
'Uneternal City. Thirty Years of Uninterrupted Rome' will feature 12 visionary designs for a possible 'new Rome', as part of an ongoing commitment to explore different cities during each edition of the Biennial.
The final section of the event will focus on solutions to Italy's housing problem.
''Overall, we want a festival that offers a view of architecture that has been liberated from the stricture of buildings, one that tackles key issues in our society,'' said Betsky.
''At the end of all these different sections, we hope people will view the world with fresh eyes''.
The Biennial runs from September 14 until November 23 this year.
