Hashim Sarkis appointed Curator of the Biennale Architettura 2020
On December 19th, the Board of La Biennale di Venezia has announced the curator of the Biennale Architettura 2020. The Lebanese architect Hashim Sarkis runs his practice in Boston and Beirut and is the Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT. The 17th International Architecture Exhibition will be held from May 23rd to November 29th, 2020.
President Paolo Baratta of La Biennale di Venezia stated: “We have appointed the Curator of the next Biennale Architettura 2020, within the timeframe needed for organizing the Exhibition and in respect of the norms which govern La Biennale. With Hashim Sarkis, La Biennale has provided itself with a Curator who is particularly aware of the topics and criticalities which the various contrasting realities of today’s society pose for our living space”.
The projects of Hashim Sarkis Studios (HSS), established in 1998 with offices in Boston and Beirut, include affordable housing, houses, parks, institutional buildings, urban design, and town planning. HSS has received several awards for its projects in Lebanon and the firm’s work has been exhibited around the world, including at the Pavilion of the United States at the Biennale Architettura 2014 and the Pavilion of Albania at the Biennale Architettura 2010. The work has also been published extensively, most recently in a monograph by NESS.docs (New York, Barcelona: Actar, 2017).
Sarkis earned a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Master of Architecture and a PhD in Architecture from Harvard University. He is the author and editor of several books and articles on modern architecture history and theory. Since 2015, he is the Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Sarkis was member of the international jury of the Biennale Architettura 2016.
“The world is putting new challenges in front of architecture. I look forward to working with participating architects from around the world to imagine together how we are going to rise to these challenges. Thank you President Baratta and La Biennale di Venezia team for providing architecture this important platform. I am both honored and humbled,” stated Sarkis.
The 17th International Architecture Exhibition will be held from May 23rd to November 29th, 2020.
