University President and Chancellor Renu Khator, Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture Dean Patricia Oliver, architecture professors Peter Jay Zweig and Thomas Colbert and five students are representing the Hines College of Architecture and the University as a whole today as they show off their projects at the 14th International Architecture Exhibition at the 2014 Venice Biannale in Venice, Italy.
Architecture students Wells Barber, David Regone, Sam Goulas, Jackson Fox and Lacey Richter are presenting their project “Three Continents Studio,” a collaboration between UH, Tulane University, University of Buenos Aires and Delft Technical University students. The project will be exhibited with the “Time Space Existence” event, along with other university projects from six different continents. UH students brought a Houston-based perspective to the project.
“Houston is a place of amazing growth and it is increasingly being recognized for the quality of life that is available here,” said Colbert, co-leader of the project. “But (it) is faced with an array of important problems, wicked problems that defy easy solution.”
“Among these challenges, flooding, hurricanes, pollution, and ecological degradation are all growing issues, particularly in the world’s coastal and deltaic regions. Like Venice, Houston is a coastal city. We want to solve these problems in ways that will at the same times improve the city and the region.”
The project is largely theoretical, but Colbert said that he hoped that it will spur discussion and even action at some point in the future.
“Architecture is about ideas finding form, whether in the physical world in in the realm of theory,” Colbert said. “These two facets of architecture are interdependent.”
According to a UH press release, the exhibition includes concepts for a “multifunctional site” near the Port of Houston, rehabilitation of abandoned offshore rigs and an educational facility in Buffalo Bayou for children with learning disabilities.
“Showing my work at the Venice Biennale is an amazing exclamation point for the end of my architecture education,” Barber said in the press release. “The Venice Biennale is where you see top level professional design. For this to be the first thing I do after graduating is a dream come true.”
Colbert said he felt honored to have work included in the Venice Biennale.
“It is one of the most respected venues for architecture in the world, and the place itself is magnificent,” Colbert said. “The architecture of Venice is inspiring in every way. The exhibition buildings are magnificent. Many of the greatest architects of the day are represented here, and are the best efforts of many of the most highly regarded schools of architecture in the world are as well. It feels good to be here.”
The exhibition will housed at Palazzo Bembo and Palazzo Mora in Venice from June 7 until Nov. 23.
