Britain: Island Under Construction

On May 24th, the British Council presented "Island" at the British Pavilion of the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. The construction of this public gathering space responds to this year's theme, "Freespace," and is very much open to interpretation.

Curated by Caruso St John Architects in collaboration with artist Marcus Taylor, "Island" looks like an unfinished building: it is covered with scaffolding and supports a wooden platform at roof-level—the peak of the roof emerges like an island overlooking a lagoon. Completely empty inside, it has been a source of both confusion and curiosity for Biennale attendees.

The curators explained, "the state of the building suggests many themes; including abandonment, reconstruction, sanctuary, Brexit, isolation, colonialism and climate change. It is intended as a platform, in this case also literally, for a new and optimistic beginning."

You can find the video introducing "Island" here on the British Council's YouTube channel.

Photo by David Holt | CC BY-SA 2.0