Exhibition time: May 28 to November 27, 2016
Media Preview: May 26 to 27, 2016
Venue: Central Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale, Italy

The Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation (BCAF) is pleased to announce that the recent community architecture project “West Village Basis Yard" by Chinese architect Liu Jiakun has been selected for the Central Pavilion exhibition of the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2016. This is the second time that Liu Jiakun’s work has been selected for the Venice Architecture Biennale, with the architect having previously presented “Rebirth Brick” at the Biennale in 2008. Liu Jiakun has also shown his project “With the Wind" at the Venice Art Biennale (China Pavilion) in 2015. BCAF will provide full support in the planning, organization, public relations and coordination of Liu Jiakun's Venice exhibition.

The Venice Biennale is the world's oldest biennale. The Art Biennale and the Architecture Biennale, which are organized by La Biennale di Venezia, are held separately and biennially, and include three major components: the International Exhibition, National Pavilion exhibitions, and Collateral Events. The title of the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale core exhibition is “Reporting from the Front.” The chief curator is the Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, winner of the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Alejandro Aravena stated that the theme focuses on the connection between architecture and the lives of ordinary people, and aims to prompt architectural design back toward the important direction of serving the public. He hopes to highlight a sense of “frontline” in this theme, because supply and demand for housing is in a tense situation in many parts of the world, and he hopes that the Biennale can reveal the urgency of these needs and present more solutions.

About Liu Jiakun

Liu Jiakun's work has been shown in the German-Chinese Culture Year “Cimu-China Young Architects Exhibition,” the French-Chinese Cultural Year “China New Architecture Exhibition,” the Dutch NAI “China Contemporary Architecture” exhibition, the Russian-Chinese Culture Year, and the Italian Parma Architecture Festival. His projects have also been featured in international exhibitions such as the Sophia Architecture Week and the Venice Architecture Biennale. Liu is the recipient of the Asian Construction Association Honor Award, the 2003 China Architecture Art Award, the Architectural Record China Award, the Far East Architecture Award, the China Architecture Society Architectural Creation Award, and the first Audi Art and Design Award. His works have been published by A+U, AV, Area, Domus, MADE IN CHINA, AR, and GA, and he has been invited to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, the Royal College of Art, Paris  Palace as well as universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to give lectures.

Liu Jiakun founded the architectural firm Jiakun Architects in 1999. The firm organizes and participates in international architectural cooperation, exhibitions and exchanges. Project overseers for the firm are located all over China and Europe, and their work scope covers project planning, urban design, architectural design, landscape design, interior design, product design and contemporary art projects. The firm is dedicated to developing an Eastern interpretation of contemporary architecture, and emphasizes symbiosis with nature, respect for history, learning from folk wisdom, dwelling in the here and now, and using practical methods based on local conditions.