Pakistan has recently announced it will debut its first-ever national pavilion for the upcoming Venice Biennale, under exhibition title ‘The Fold’.
Pavilion of Pakistan, all images courtesy of Coalesce Design Studio
Organised by a Karachi-based multidisciplinary design practice Coalesce Design Studio and the Dubai-based Antidote Art & Design, which works with emerging artists and designers, the pavilion will explore the biennale’s theme ‘freespace’ within the context of Karachi — Pakistan’s largest and most populated city.
Designed as an abstraction of the physical limitations of the informal settlements that populate Karachi, the pavilion is composed of a layer of unevenly spaced verticals, consuming a small portion of the Gardens of Marinaressa (in the Levante section of the biennale). Upon closer proximity and inspection, the layer reveals itself as a singular folding system, with the intention to confine, while partially reveal what it encloses.
Sami Chohan, the pavilion’s curator, said, “The Fold will be the first-ever Pavilion of Pakistan at the prestigious International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.
“It takes inspiration from the tangible and intangible qualities of open spaces embedded within the numerous informal settlements of Karachi. Despite confined physical conditions, these spaces remain full of life and vitality, making enough room for everyone through an overwhelming sense of community that builds and thrives on consensus. Layered with ideas of limitation and interdependence, our proposal echoes these qualities, inviting visitors to comprehend ‘freespace’ as a consequence of unity, mutuality and harmony.”