05.26.2018
"STAR APARTMENTS" OPENS
IN 16TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION
LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA
Michael Maltzan Architecture’s “Star Apartments” installation is now on view in the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
The exhibition includes elements that represent the project from three distinct scales:
The Scale of the City / A floor-to-ceiling isometric mural drawing and aerial video footage of Los Angeles shows the building within the context of the expansive metropolis that is characterized by an open, free and layered non-hierarchical continuum of space. A panoramic video elevation shows the activity and character of the street life along the building.
The Scale of the Community / The architectural organization of the building is clearly shown in the large ¾” = 1’-0” model that is centered in the exhibition space. Companion wall-mounted architectural drawings show the building organization in greater detail. The second-floor community level, an open and accessible horizontal plane of free activity that includes a community kitchen, gardens, walking track, and sports court, is rendered in greater detail in both the model and drawings.
The Scale of the Individual / The free space of each apartment, or the freedom to define personal space, results in a rich diversity of interiors defined by the residents themselves. The diversity of the building’s residents is highlighted in the 1” = 1’-0” diorama models of individual apartments, large-scale photographs of objects that residents identified as their most important belongings, and finally in their own words through a series of video interviews and apartment tours.
MMA’s exhibition collaborators include the Skid Row Housing Trust (Client), Myles Kramer (Filmmaker), Louis Heilbronn (Photographer), and SunWest Fabrication LLC (Steel Fabricator). The installation is on view in the Central Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale in Venice, Italy. The 16th International Architecture Exhibition will be open to the public through November 25, 2018.
