09.ED.15 Redux

Exhibition Design: Venice Biennale 
2024

Shortlisted submission for the Australian Pavilion creative directorship and exhibition design for the 2025 Venice Biennale.

Traditionally "redux" refers to something brought back and given a new interpretation. Here we invoke redux in the realm of architecture: the transformation of the repudiated building material asbestos, mineral name "09.ED.15". Asbestos as a latent killer in buildings is now well understood. Less well known is the fact that asbestos itself is a naturally occurring mineral, and that new processes have been discovered which dissolve it into harmless, carbon-negative by-products. Moreover, these by-products have material characteristics of their own with creative architectural potential. 

Our proposed exhibition is about the material, and made of the material*. Equally, the project is a narrative of our exploitative relationship with nature, of industrial hubris, and now one of a hard-won humility, learning, and finally of architectural aspiration.

The story highlights the potential power of the architect as protagonist, and of the innocent nature of materials; they are friends or foes of our making. The exhibition proposal aligns with the Biennale's theme of Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. We show that human intervention in the natural world in service of the artificial must be, and can be, more intelligent than it has been and more fully accountable to the collective, including those in the wider biosphere.

* No asbestos is proposed in the exhibition. All materials used are
mineral by-products of an EU safety certified decomposition process by Asbeter of Rotterdam.

The exhibition proposal is as follows:

First, it is a built architectural and spatial composition in the Australian Pavilion made of the neutralised by-product materials*. This architectural piece is designed specifically for the space, in the manner of an experiential exhibition. Its dimensions, openings, views, circulation, opportunity for repose and future exhibition use are all considered. We feel strongly that an architecture exhibition at the Biennale must be performative as well as didactic. That is, whilst delivering a narrative it must also itself be a compelling work of architectural design.

Second, a body of research will be presented. Widely used from the mid- twentieth century, asbestos became a staple in Australian construction due to its durability, fire resistance, and affordability. It was extensively employed in housing, resulting in the ubiquitous "fibro" homes that characterise postwar Australian suburban expansion. However, the health effects of asbestos exposure have been severe and far-reaching. AI-assisted mapping shows a disturbing confluence of asbestos landfill and contaminated buildings, lower socio-economic status and culturally diverse communities.

As a point-case, the research includes an account of the Western Sydney asbestos-fibro "belt" which runs from Parramatta to Penrith. This research builds on the work of a Master of Architecture design studio run by Peter Besley and Jessica Spresser at the University of Sydney in 2023, with students Thomas Li, Kleopatra Ananda and Jasmine Sharp.

From the perspective of Colonial Australia, the example of poisonous expansion and damage to Country from asbestos toxicity in communities, contaminated landfill and sealed dumps, is especially profound.

Finally, the exhibition will detail the recent breakthroughs in asbestos treatment, how they work and are certified, and what the coming release of contaminated sites coupled with repair of Country might mean. This part of the exhibition will also explore the characteristics of the mineral by-products of the asbestos neutralising process, how these are beautiful and compelling materials in their own right, and how they are worthy of architectural interest.

The exhibition suggests that a new architectural chapter could be opened in support of what is a wider positive movement in material culture.

Australian Institute of Architects
Besley & Spresser
The University of Sydney with:
Thomas Li
Kleopatra Ananda
Jasmine Sharp
Asbeter

Hamish McIntosh
Client
Creative Directors
Creative Team



Materials Supply

Photography