Two new shows launch at the V-A-C Foundation in Venice

The V-A-C Foundation is bustling with news and activity. Not only is the Russian art platform making fast advances on its upcoming home by Renzo Piano in Moscow (the redesign of a decommissioned power station into a gallery); its Venice outpost, Palazzo delle Zattere, has just launched not one, but two new offerings during the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale that previews today.
The first one is a new installation developed by architecture and design collaborative Assemble and We Are Here, an independent non-profit organisation that ‘addresses Venice’s challenges as a living city by strengthening connections between the best available information and stakeholders.’ The new courtyard installation is freely open to the public and aims to enhance the relationship between Venice and its context.
Entitled ‘Laguna Viva’, the piece is a meandering green landscape of hills and ponds, referencing the water and nature of Venice, its lagoons and salt marsh habitat. This is designed to evolve and change over time; and it is only phase 1 in the V-A-C’s collaboration with Assemble. At the end of the year, the piece will be covered in tiles and transform into the foundation’s next phase – as part of an ongoing strategy to enable the foundation to connect with its surroundings. For now, the installation is going to sit right next to the Assemble designed new bar and restaurant for the complex, sudest 1401.
The second show opening this week at Palazzo delle Zattere is ‘The Explorers, part One’, organised by London’s Whitechapel Gallery and curated by its director, Iwona Blazwick. Working with pieces from the V-A-C Foundation collection, the exhibition looks at piece discovered in the collection by artists Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, James Richards, Mike Nelson and Fiona Banner, mixing paintings, prints and photographs in a journey through nature and human nature.
See all the latest news and stories from Venice Architecture Biennale here
The piece explores how landscape, nature and architecture can communicate.
At the same time, the V-A-C launched a new art show entitled 'The Explorers: Part One'.
The exhibition is curated by Iwona Blazwick of the Whitechapel Gallery
The curator worked with a selection of works from the V-A-C Foundation's collection.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the V-A-C Foundation website
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Ballman Khaplova creates a light-filled artist’s studio in upstate New York
This modest artist’s studio provides a creative with an atelier and office in the grounds of an old farmhouse, embedding her practice in the surrounding landscape
-
Italy’s most famous recipe book gets a revamp for its latest edition
‘Il Cucchiaio d'Argento’, or ‘The Silver Spoon’, is Italy's best-known recipe book: artist Olimpia Zagnoli and cultural design studio Bunker collaborated on a new look for its latest edition
-
Messika marks 20 years with a high jewellery collection inspired by Namibia
The Terres d’Instinct high jewellery collection, unveiled at Paris Fashion Week, is a riot of colour and bold forms
-
The 2026 Winter Olympics Village is complete. Take a look inside
Ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, taking place in Milan in February, the new Olympic Village Plaza is set to be a bustling community hub, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
-
Anish Kapoor designs Naples station as a reflection of ‘what it really means to go underground’
A new Naples station by artist Anish Kapoor blends art and architecture, while creating an important piece of infrastructure for the southern Italian city
-
‘Landscape architecture is the queen of science’: Emanuele Coccia in conversation with Bas Smets
Italian philosopher Emanuele Coccia meets Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets to discuss nature, cities and ‘biospheric thinking’
-
This historic Sicilian house cost one euro. Go inside its transformation
Palermo-based firm Didea teamed up with AirBNB to reimagine the once-dilapidated property in vibrant colour blocks
-
A guide to Renzo Piano’s magic touch for balancing scale and craft in architecture
Prolific and innovative, Renzo Piano has earned a place among the 20th century's most important architects; we delve into his life and career in this ultimate guide to his work
-
Porsche and the Norman Foster Foundation rethink the future of mobility
A futuristic Venice transport hub, created with the Norman Foster Foundation for Porsche’s The Art of Dreams programme, is a star of the city’s Architecture Biennale
-
Want to be a Venice pavilion commissioner? Bring ideas – and your Rolodex
The impressive showings of the USA's Venice pavilion in the Giardini belie the ambitious fundraising efforts that underpin them. Past and present curators tell us how it works
-
A mesmerising edition of The Dalmore Luminary Series is unveiled in Venice
The Dalmore Luminary Series sculpture No.3 by Ben Dobbin of Foster + Partners, co-curated by V&A Dundee, launches in Venice during the 2025 Architecture Biennale