Measuring FREESPACE

Although the themes of the two exhibitions are quite different, FREESPACE recalls the first International Architecture Exhibition, The Presence of the Past, curated by Paolo Portoghesi. That 1980 exhibition – the first of its kind and the first of any Venice Biennale to be held at the Arsenale – famously lined the Corderie with Postmodern facades to create the "Strada Novissima." Similarly, FREESPACE opens up the linear spine of the Corderie, exploiting the length of the building and its impressive columns. But whereas the 1980 "Strada" extended only 100 meters, the 2018 exhibition extends the full 300 meters. How do we know it's that long? A ruler running down the middle of the space marks the distance from the entrance to the end of the building, in turn measuring our progress through the exhibition. And overhead is the FREESPACE text and its translations; used primarily in the Biennale's graphic literature, here it becomes part of the architecture.