More than 80 students and lecturers from different international universities will participate in the workshop led by Daniel Cid, Francesc Pla and Eva Serrats (Leve), the curators of Following the Fish, Catalonia in Venice’s project that forms part of the Eventi Collaterali in the 18th International Architecture Exhibition-La Biennale di Venezia. The workshop, which will take place from the 3rd to the 7th of July in Venice, will present the conclusions made by the Reparation Atelier, one of the main parts of the Following the Fish project, which has proposed various challenges to university students based on new community residential models, such as collective kitchens, spaces of reception and the re-use of empty buildings. The Reparation Atelier is inviting members of the migrant community, architects and above all people in administration to involve them in the proposals with the aim of proposing new models of coexistence.

The workshop is part of the Biennale Sessions, the programme aimed at universities, fine art academies and institutions of higher education that are taking part in the important annual event. On Friday the 5th of July, the students will present their projects to the public, in a session that will take place in the central pavilion of the Giardini.

The participating universities are Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Barcelona (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura del Vallès (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), Escola Tècnica Superior d’Arquitectura de Reus (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), School of Architecture (Lund University), Scuola di Architectura, Urbanisitca e Ingegneria della Costruzioni (Politecnico di Milano) and Winchester School of Art (University of Southampton).

Following the Fish was inaugurated on the 20th of May, and can be visited until the 26th of November 2023 as part of the 18th edition of the International Architecture Exposition- Biennale di Venezia. Urbanism, workspaces and housing from the perspective of the African diaspora in Catalonia are the main themes of the project, which has the goal of identifying alternative architecture to hegemonic forms. The project has two main components: the Manter Market, an exposition that presents narratives from the African migrant diaspora in Catalonia via an installation, and the Reparation Atelier laboratory.

The Laboratory of the future has been the central topic of this year’s Biennale Architettura, chosen by curator Lesley Lokko. This year’s edition has Africa as its protagonist, with challenges such as decolonisation and decarbonisation as its main focus.