Terra Australis Incognita and the City of Water
Australia was inscribed as ‘terra australis incognita’ which means ‘the unknown land of South’ in the Roman times. In my mind, it seems like this description still symbolizes Australia well as a metaphor for the mega-diverse nature. The Outback, the Great Barrier Reef, the Mount Augustus, and the Mount Kosciuszko on the Great Dividing Range are just few of the famous sites among the numerous places that you can feel and experience this diverse and unique nature of Australia. On the other hand Venice, which is nicknamed ‘city of water’, is a city built on an archipelago of 118 islands formed by around 150 canals. The city is full of rich culture and the charismatic built environment dominates over nature. Thus an architecture that is to be influenced by these contrasting contexts should inherent multiple logics and perceptions.
The New Australian Pavilion
This project aims to create the new Australian Pavilion that architecturally represents Australia’s nature and ‘sculpt’ it into the built environment of Venice. The form of the overall building is pushed and pulled to correlate with the surrounding context and an entry ramp is inserted through the building for direct connection with the adjacent canal. The façade of the building delineates the shapes and colors of Australia’s landscape and the operable exterior louvers will change colors as the wind blows. The interior space is designed to be a glowing space full of light with soft shadows created by layered shells, and the coherent use of materials will enable this space to become a neutral backdrop for the art that will be displayed.
