#floornaturelive at the 2014 Biennale in Venice. Latvian pavilion: Unwritten.

The Latvian pavilion at the 14th international architecture exhibition, the Biennale of Venice 2014, is entitled “Unwritten”. A research on the theme, “Absorbing Modernity” in Latvia that aims to create a synopsis on modernist architecture in the Baltic nation.



The title of the Latvian pavilion at the 2014 Biennale in Venice says it all: “Unwritten”, here discussing chronicles that do not physically exist in specific literature.



LThe modernist architecture developed during the period of Soviet occupation strongly shaped the living spaces of Latvian cities, particularly the capital, Riga. Actually, modernism in Latvia is delicate question precisely because of its political connotations. How can you judge this architecture? Is there a real Latvian tradition of modernist architecture? Should it be preserved? If so, in what way?



These are all questions that the curators from the NRJA studio delegate to the general public, with people invited to interact and upload photos of Latvian architecture that could be considered modernist, including such details as the architect’s name, the year and place of construction into a album called “Searching for Modernism architecture in Latvia” set up for this purpose on Facebook, a digital extension of the “Unwritten” exhibition and the foundation for a book about modernism in Latvia.





The “Unwritten” installation greets visitors with illustrated sheets of paper hanging from the ceiling, each with a prominent phrase selected by the curators, phrases like “Modernism is sexy”, “The Styles are a Lie”.



But even more importantly, “If it doesn't exist, who cares if it doesn't”, motif that explains the urgency of maintaining the status quo of modernist architecture in Latvia, at least for the moment. 

Title of the exhibition: Unwritten 
Participants: architectural office NRJA
(architects Uldis Lukševics, Linda Leitāne – Šmīdberga, 
Zigmārs Jauja, Ivars Veinbergs, Mārtiņš Rusiņš)
Commissioner: Juris Poga
Curator: architectural office NRJA 
Deputy Commissioner: Andris Brinkmanis
Other collaborators: 
Graphic designer: Kirils Kirasirovs 
Sound artist: Andris Indāns
Multimedia support: Rihards Vītols
Essay writers: Juris Dambis, Jānis Taurens, Artis Zvirgzdiņš, Vladimir Belogolovsky
Event agency: full service event agency “Pareizā ķīmija”
Catalogue: “Unwritten” on Issuu - http://issuu.com/nrja/docs/unwritten

14th International Architecture Exhibitions - Fundamentals
dates: 7 June - 23 november 2014
location: Venice (Italy)
http://www.labiennale.org/
Images: © Gianluca Giordano and Courtesy of Latvian Pavilion