Utopia or parody?

The Sunday cultural section of the Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore describes the architecture Biennale that opened yesterday in Venice as a phenomenon that transcends art: "Anyone who expects answers or suggestions on the role of architecture from the Biennale curated by Aaron Betsky, director of the Cincinnati Art Museum, will find neither blueprints nor models, just a simulated merry meandering. Installations that conjure up spectres from the subconscious, heart palpitations that evoke the hammering of construction sites, hovering dolls that celebrate the singles culture. This is architecture as art. Or is it a plucky resuscitation of the principle of hope, bound to the grand tradition of Utopia? ... Regardless, the utopian image presented in the main section is more reminiscent of stereotypes than of experiments. They do not point to the future, but rehash old rites for new myths."

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