«The theme of this Biennale Architettura is its title. The title is a question: How will we live together? The question is open.
How: Speaks to practical approaches and concrete solutions, highlighting the primacy of problem-solving in architectural thinking.
Will: Signals looking toward the future but also seeking vision and determination, drawing from the power of the architectural imaginary.
We: Is first person plural and thus inclusive of other peoples, of other species, appealing to a more empathetic understanding of architecture.
Live: Means not simply to exist but to thrive, to flourish, to inhabit, and to express life, tapping into architecture’s inherent optimism.
Together: Implies collectives, commons, universal values, highlighting architecture as a collective form and a form of collective expression.
?: Indicates an open question, not a rhetoth rical one, looking for (many) answers, celebrating the plurality of values in and through architecture.»
The question, “How will we live together?” is at once ancient and urgent. The Babylonians asked it as they were building their tower. Aristotle asked it when he was writing about politics. His answer was “the city.” The French and American Revolutions asked it. Against the tumultuous backdrop of the early 1970s, Timmy Thomas passionately pleaded it in his song “Why Can’t We Live Together?”
_HASHIM SARKIS Curator of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition
