ESA at the 7th International Exhibition of Architecture – Venice Biennale
Nr. 38-2000 – Paris, 9 June 2000
The European Space Agency will be at the 7th International Exhibition of Architecture taking place in Venice from 18 June to 29
October as part of the Biennale.
The Exhibition will open for a press preview on 15 and 16 June and the formal inauguration will be held on 17 June.
The theme of the Exhibition is ‘the city: less aesthetics, more ethics’ and will address lifestyles for the society of the third millennium.
The Director of the Exhibition, the architect Massimiliano Fuksas, has chosen the example of space to illustrate the theme of mega-cities
and the contradictions of today’s world.
ESA has contributed a selection of satellite images of 50 mega-cities in the world, which have been integrated into a video production
that will be shown on a screen 280 metres in length. These images include Calcutta, São Paolo, Rome, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Hong
Kong, Manila, Moscow and many other cities where environmental changes linked to social conditions have created a whole range of
problems.
The itinerary of the Exhibition takes in a scale model of the International Space Station, representing mankind’s early efforts to set up
home in space. Videos will show the preparations for completion of the station’s assembly and the training of astronauts to crew it.
The project was set up with ASI, the Italian space agency, and Alenia Spazio.
ESA is organising Europe’s contributions to the International Space Station: the Columbus scientific laboratory and the automated
transfer vehicle.
ASI is making additional contributions of three logistics modules and nodes for interconnection of various parts of the station.
From 2004 astronauts and scientists will be working in the laboratories on the station, running scientific experiments in the fields of
microgravity, life sciences, space science, materials science and communication.
Exhibition
Venezia, Giardini di Castello – Arsenale di Venezia
Corderie, Artiglierie, Gaggiandre
18 June – 29 October 2000
Press preview
15 and 16 June from 10:00 to 20:00
or:
ESA/ESRIN Public and Institutional Relations Office
Simonetta Cheli/Franca Morgia
Tel: +39 06 94180 350
Fax: +39 06 94180 302
e-mail: scheli@esrin.esa.it
