Slovenia to highlight master builders at Venice Architecture Biennale

Architects Ana Kosi and Ognen Arsov have been selected to represent Slovenia at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice this year with a project focusing on the skills of artisans, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Slovenia's pavilion will spotlight craftsmanship techniques and skills as a crucial and irreplaceable part of architectural production even at a time when AI, 3D printing and automation are becoming more prevalent in construction.

Kosi and Arsov from the KIP architectural studio will draw on their own experience to show the important relationship between architectural design and craftsmanship on the construction site.

"We are present at construction sites daily. Our work shows the quality and development of architecture depends on the presence of experienced craftsmen on the site," Kosi and Arsov say.

They want to show craftsmen's work as key intelligence in the construction process at a time when they are not given the value and appreciation they deserve.

The pavilion will feature a series of totems, created as physical representation of the knowledge and skills of artisans using an experimental process to research the relationship between the architect, the artisan and architecture.

The project by Kosi and Arsov was selected unanimously by a judging panel from 14 applications submitted in response to an open call issued by the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO) in Ljubljana.

The panel says the project provides relevant and current content and an imaginative response to the theme of the biennale, which will focus on projects addressing issues of today's time.

Titled Intelligens, the 19th International Architecture Exhibition will be about the built environment and the many disciplines that shape it. It will run between 10 May and 23 November.

Arsov and Kosi founded KIP in 2017 and have received several awards both in Slovenia and abroad for their projects.