Bernhard and Stefan Marte – two architects from Vorarlberg at the Biennale of Architecture in Venice.
One thing must be said about Vorarlberg’s architects: They know how to put architecture in the limelight. Not only is this true for the duo Marte.Marte Architects, but they are the only Austrian architects that were invited to participate in this 2016`s central exhibition at the Arsenale at the Biennale in Venice.
The two brothers were invited by the director of the Biennale, Alejandro Aravena. The Pritzker Prize laureate asked the two architects to contribute to the International Exhibition that shall raise awareness on what range of questions architecture can find answers to. In the exhibition “Reporting from the Front“, Aravena intends to tell success stories and to illustrate “small victories that were gained in big battles for improving the quality of our constructed environments”. What Marte. Marte will present in their film and media installation at the Biennale are, amongst others, their trilogy of bridges in DornbirnEbnit and their mountain cabin in Laterns.
The work by Marte and Marte is often characterized by coexisting radical, poetic and political features. Given surroundings are carried forward through baffling fitting elements in a pure and lapidary manner. Frequently emitting both a thrilling and a contemplative power, their designs draw in spectators inescapably. They create an aura which exceeds functional aspects of structures.
According to Aravena, “such enhancements and syntheses are hard to reach. They have to be battled out arduously in a fight against the greed and impatience of capital and the restrictiveness and conservatism of bureaucracy that tend to create banal, mediocre and dull environments.”
Seemingly, Aravena has never been to Vorarlberg, where he would have seen the clocks tick differently on architecture friendly soil. An extensive Online guide on architecture in Vorarlberg can be found at www.architektouren.at.
INFO: Marte.Marte Architekten ZT GmbH www.marte-marte.com Architecture routes through Vorarlberg www.architektouren.at
