Call for Applications Opens for the U.S. Pavilion at Venice’s 2023 Architecture Biennale

February 18, 2022 Ilana Herzig KEYWORDS awards / Venice / Venice Architecture Biennale Order Reprints No Comments

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of State posted a call for applications for the U.S. pavilion at the upcoming 2023 Venice Biennale. The 18th international architecture exhibition will run from May to November 2023 and aims to showcase “revolutionary ideas in contemporary architecture and design,  according to the National Endowment for the Arts. Applications for the $375,000 awards are due March 24 and are open to 501(c)(3) not-for-profit art, architecture, educational, and cultural organizations.

Last year’s U.S. showcase at the Venice Biennale, curated by professors and architects Paul Andersen of Independent Architecture and Paul Preissner of Paul Preissner Architects, boasted a four-story window-punctuated timber structure that covered the 1930s neoclassical building. Captured by photographer Chris Strong, the 2021 facade paid homage to the history and simplicity of American wood construction—often dismissed as “stick construction”—that spans back centuries and constitutes 90 percent of the country’s housing.

In the fall, La Biennale di Venezia announced the appointment of educator, best-selling author, and award-winning Ghanaian-Scottish architect Lesley Lokko as head curator of the 2023 event. In a conversation with RECORD Editor-in-Chief Cathleen McGuian, Lokko called the role “an amazing opportunity to open the Biennale and to open architecture up…so it’s not only about building, it's about building society, building culture, building economies.”