Scotland + Venice
Learn about Scotland’s participation at the Biennale Architettura over the years.
Scotland’s contribution to the International Architecture Exhibition (Biennale Architettura) in Venice is delivered through the Scotland + Venice partnership. The ambition of the partnership is to commission and showcase art and architecture that reflects the best of contemporary practice and thinking in Scotland.
The partnership is between the Scottish Government, Creative Scotland, British Council Scotland, National Galleries Scotland, V&A Dundee, and Architecture and Design Scotland. Scotland is recognised internationally as a country that encourages and supports excellence and innovation.
Our role
Since 2016, we have taken a leading role in developing and delivering Scotland + Venice.
We know from experience that designers shape and create better places when they work closely with the people who use them. Conversations and participation are vital.
The Scotland + Venice projects have been developed with communities in Scotland along with designers and architects. Their ideas and wishes for the future are the foundation on which we built and present Scotland + Venice.
Our relationship with the people of Venice plays a key role: we reach out to the local communities to include them in experiences and conversations of the places we make.
Scotland + Venice 2023
We will again be taking a project from Scotland to the Biennale Architecttura in 2023. We will update this update as the project develops.
Scotland + Venice 2021: What if...?/Scotland
What if...?/Scotland sought to re-engage the civic role of design professions. It asked citizens across Scotland to share their hopes and dreams for the future of the places they call home. Click the link below to read more on the Scotland + Venice website, or read our blog summing up the project.
“In the face of a changing and uncertain climate, it’s vital that conversation and participation and ambitious ideas are prioritised when we design our collective future.”
– Project Lead Ewan Anderson at 7N Architects
Scotland + Venice 2018: The Happenstance
The Happenstance was an active archive around a boardwalk-cum-climbing in the garden of Palazzo Zenobio. Click the button below to read more about The Happenstance on the Scotland + Venice website.
On the same site you can also read lead artist Peter McCaughey’s reflections on The Happenstance. And journalist Susan Mansfield wrote about The Happenstance in:
- an interview with Peter McCaughey
- a report on the project exploring how Venetians adopted it as their own ‘free space’
The Happenstance dispatches
A series of twelve publications or ‘dispatches’ exploring the themes and learning from The Happenstance.
“Tomorrow is the closing day of the beautiful sharing experience between Scotland, with the tireless, inspirational Peter McCaughey, and Venice. It has been an intense few months where, since the opening of the pavilion at CA ‘Zenobio, the interaction between artists and citizens has been addictive, sparkling.” – Giovanni Andrea Martini, President of the Venice Municipality
Scotland + Venice 2016: Prospect North
Prospect North explored 15 community projects throughout Scotland as well as the country’s relationship with its northern neighbours in an interactive exhibition.
Scotland + Venice 2014: Past + Future
Past + Future saw four groups research modernity in Scotland. The research was aimed at opening up debate within Scotland about what a modern architecture was and what it might be.
Scotland + Venice 2012: Critical Dialogues
Critical Dialogues saw four Glasgow-based practices create a Scottish ‘studio’ in Venice. It looked at the social role of the architect and the creative boundaries of architecture.
Scotland + Venice 2010: To Have and to Hold
To Have and to Hold presented the premier of Murray Grigor’s Space and Light Revisited about St Peter’s Seminary. It was shown as a split-screen film: the original 1972 release about the working seminary alongside the 2009 shot-for-shot remake of the ruin.
“One of the most poignant films you will ever see showing the gradual destruction of a great building over time.” – The Herald
Scotland + Venice 2008: A Gathering Space
A Gathering Space was a 7m-high wooden structure created from sustainable materials. It provided a temporary public forum for debate and discussion, inviting visitors to sit, pause and contemplate.
Scotland + Venice 2004: Landforms
Landforms was an exploration of 16 keynote architectural projects completed since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Header image credit: Neil Hanna