29/07/2018
It was a surprisingly interesting spatial experience visiting the British Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale 2018.
The pavilion was surrounded by scaffolds and I accidentally entered the pavilion from the back door. The layout of the interior is one bigger square encircling the inner one in the center. You can walk along the high ceiling hallways. There was nothing but beautiful sunlight shining through the space. I doubted myself that it was me who didn't pay attention to the exhibition so I walked the second round and I found that the space is literally EMPTY. The staff at the reception desk smiled at me after my second attempt and asked me did I enjoyed the exhibition. I smile awkwardly and say yes with my mind assuming that this should be one of the work done by the Scandinavian which represents simplicity, architecture and nature. Not until I exited from the main entrance, I found that it was the British Pavilion: ISLAND. Right outside of the pavilion there were people queuing for entering a staircase built on scaffolds leading to an unknown upper level. I joined the waiting line and arrived at a lovely terrace plaza on top of the pavilion. The beautiful painted plywood flooring, rattan stools, yellow umbrellas, lush treetops with the visibility to the sky and lagoons made the platform like a freespace paradise. Unlike normal opening parties with free alcohols, they served hot tea on a hot day on the open roof top.
Overall, the whole experience in the space is quite bizarre and I like the enjoyable weird feeling I have had throughout the visit.
— Venice, Italy. May 2018