The Woman on the Ladder

Aravena, along with Paolo Baratta, chair of the Board of la Biennale di Venezia, spoke to the press at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York on Monday, when World-Architects was in attendance. After some remarks by Baratta, Aravena started with some words on the photo, which was taken by Bruce Chatwin during a trip to South America in the 1970s. The woman atop the aluminum ladder is Maria Reiche, the German archaeologist who spent much of her life studying the  Nazca lines in Peru. Chatwin came across Reiche carrying and then ascending the ladder to get a better vantage point of the large-scale geometric marks on the desert floor.

A striking photo, no doubt, but what does it have to do with architecture and the Biennale? Baratta saw it as representing the Biennale as a whole, with its attitudes and goals of conquering the "expanded eye." He also envisioned that, in addition to seeing "desolated land ... which no human could be proud of," Reiche sees "signs of creativity and hope."

Aravena was a bit more practical in his words. He appreciated the way Reiche – whose work predated today's abundant satellite imagery and who could not afford to rent an airplane to see the marks from the sky – used her modest means in pursuit of understanding the Nazca Lines. By raising herself to the top of the ladder she was able to gain a new perspective, turning the random marks on the ground into the birds, trees or flowers that the marks represented.

This new perspective parallels what Aravena wants to do with Reporting from the Front: encourage visitors to listen to those who have acquired a new point of view. This is a broad yet logical goal that will be accomplished through his mandate to the 88 participants that they explain their projects as simply as possible (not burying them beneath layers of obtuse language), so the general public and decision-makers can understand the contributions, not just other architects.

So what exactly is Aravena hoping to accomplish with Reporting from the Front beyond offer visitors new perspectives? The content that people will see in Venice from 28 May to 27 November 2016 follows from Aravena's two goals: 1) Expand the exhibition from something artistic (presenting projects like artworks) to something that covers more of the forces that shape our environment (economical, political, social, environmental); and 2) Present work by people who accomplish two things at once. The first opens up the exhibitions to fields from outside of architecture, while the second is rooted in what Aravena describes as "people taking risks." Ultimately Aravena wants visitors to "take it personal, be creative in [their] visits," and unlike television shows that warn you otherwise, "please try this at home."