AILATI. Reflections from the Future is the exhibition Luca Molinari has conceived for the Italian Pavilion at the 12th Venice International Architecture Exhibition, Venice, Tese delle Vergini, Arsenale, from August 19 to November 21 2010.

AILATI. Reflections from the future plays with reflections of the name “Italia” to create an installation which offers a new reading of contemporary architecture by providing an original, sideways look at things, reality and projects (”ai lati” means “at the sides”), for a stronger, wiser appreciation of the reflections from the future we receive from the world around us every day, and which constitute the resource on which Italian architecture can build new styles and identities.

AILATI. Reflections from the future therefore proclaims a vision of architecture as a civil art form, responding to the needs of the world and its people, capable of producing solutions for a restless society undergoing profound changes and with a fear of the future, which architecture should stimulate to inhabit the contemporary environment with greater awareness and courage.

AILATI. Reflections from the future comprises three sections.

“Amnesia. Italian Contemporary Architecture 1990-2010” is an initial, very necessary assessment of Italian architecture over the last twenty years, intended to provide a fuller understanding of our present condition.

“Lab Italy” is the main section of the exhibition, focusing on the present with works constructed during the last few years, to give a genuine overview of quality projects being produced in Italy and the directions in which design is developing.
The works are subdivided into 10 areas of growing importance for a country in search of new identities and solutions: Architecture for humanitarian projects; Homes at less than 1000 euro per m2;. Conversion of properties confiscated from the Mafia; Landscape emergency; Spaces for communities; New public spaces; New concepts for cities; Archetype/prototype; Work in Progress and Grafts.

“Italy 2050” establishes a dialogue with Wired, the influential magazine dedicated to big ideas and technologies that change the world, and involves 14 scientists, thinkers and filmmakers who in their way are building the future, who share their priorities and bywords for Italy over the next few decades, while fourteen designers offer exclusive visions interpreting the theme.
The Italia2050 section will house the lecture and workshop area, a place for comments and discussions that will transform the Italian Pavilion, for the three months of the Biennial, into the “Home of Italian Architecture”, hosting events, meetings and debates featuring our country’s most vibrant, wide-ranging personalities and organisations.

AILATI. Reflections from the future takes a contemporary look at the recent past, the present with its pressing needs and the near future of architecture, considering the three as a single period, by means of a complex display system designed by Salottobuono and Francesco Librizzi, occupying the 1,800 m2 of the new Pavilion overlooking the Giardino delle Vergini. The exhibition’s graphics and legends, designed by the Tankboys, are conceived to make the show understandable and useful even for members of the general public wishing to discover Italian architecture.