The results of their work will be presented in the Slovenian pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice in May 2018, and at the exhibition in MAO, which will open a month before the event in Venice.

Landscape serves as a basic context for architecture, a discipline that considers the needs of individuals and communities in order to organize the spaces in which we live. The difference between rural and urban space in Slovenia has become increasingly blurred. The country’s omnipresent landscape constitutes one of the defining features of Slovenian identity, and is one of the cornerstones of a quality life here, while at the same time the highly attractive qualities and considerable potentials of the landscape represent a danger that it could be destroyed.      

Landscape is a part of our conscious and subconscious thoughts. The space we live in is a key component in our personal and social development. It is defined by physical, geographical features and culture of use, by historically diverse and constant, ongoing human interventions, ranging from residential construction and entire residential areas to infrastructure and industrial buildings, as well as historical landmarks, ruins and remains. Our creativity is deeply connected to the landscape. Landscape is a defining element in different fields of Slovenian culture, be it literature, music, visual art, design, architecture, land-use culture, construction culture and environmental protection.    

In its various manifestations, ranging from glacial lakes, waterfalls, torrential gorges, gravel deposits, oxbow lakes, intermittent lakes, bogs, karst and thermal springs, freshwater sources and seas, water represents one of the strongest and most influential factors that shape and determine the characteristics of the Slovenian landscape. The aim of the Slovenian collaboration at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice is to present a provocative and internationally relevant view of current and future developments in architecture through the perspective of water in and as landscape.  

Using the exhibition as medium, a multidisciplinary team of architects, landscape architects, water scholars, urban planning experts, nature conservationists and strategists selected on the basis of a public call, will try to answer the question how the role of water in the landscape and in built, residential areas has changed through history, how water has worked to shape and change space and architecture, and its role in future development. Based on the body of initial conclusions on attitudes and approaches to water and its role in development the presenting group will develop new, challenging ideas on the developmental potential that lays hidden in Slovenian waters.  

Moderator: Matevž Čelik (Director, MAO)
Guest speakers: Bika Rebek, Marta Vahtar, Špela Šubic, Miloš Kosec, Nina Granda, Matevž Granda, Maj Plemenitaš