Project

Metavilla

How can we expose architectural projects during an event such as the Venice Architecture Biennale in a vivid way? Patrick Bouchain, the curator of the French pavilion proposed EXYZT, the collaboration, to bring up architecture in an alternative way.

During the 3-month event, we occupied the French pavilion in order to transform it into a living space. The Metavilla consists in the act of transforming the empty French exhibition pavilion into a space full of life, generosity and freedom. What is the essence of the act of architecture and what is that of offering spaces ready to be experienced and appropriated, ready to welcome? 

More than just being an alternative way of «exhibiting» architecture, the Metavilla presents an ordinary daily life including moments of sleep, washing, work, eating and rest. The public space of the exhibition can become the home. The visitors are welcomed to participate in the daily life of the Metavilla: they can sunbathe on the chaises longues, grab a drink or share a meal, go to the sauna or even take a shower. Exyzt delivered Metavilla for the inauguration of the Biennale and in the following weeks different groups inhabited the house and proposed workshops while living the space. It’s the appropriation by each group and even by each individual who passed through, which created the diversity and richness of the Metavilla.

Video credits: EXYZT