Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery

Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale

Charles Walker

Kathy Waghorn

Jessica Barter

Stephen Brookbanks

Maggie Carroll

Bruce Ferguson

Minka Ip

Jon Rennie

Rewi Thompson

13 October – 17 December 2017

Future Islands was the New Zealand exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. Drawing on narratives of islands as sites of possibility, or of other ways of living, Future Islands presented built, not-yet-built and speculative projects by fifty architectural practices from throughout New Zealand. Reconceived as models that perch on an archipelago of ‘island’ forms suspended to take full advantage of the Adam Art Gallery’s unusual spaces, the exhibition used sophisticated yacht-building technology, recycled materials, audio-visuals and hand-crafted elements, to offer new, often-unsettling perspectives on architecture in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Conceived by Charles Walker and Kathy Waghorn, and executed by a creative team involving Jessica Barter, Stephen Brookbanks, Maggie Carroll, Bruce Ferguson, Minka Ip, Jon Rennie and the late Rewi Thompson, this exhibition was presented in association with the New Zealand Institute of Architects.

This exhibition was staged concurrently with What Remains, The Karori Commission, Apparitions, and From the College Collection.

Restaurant at the End of the Universe World, Venice. Installation view of Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale at Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 14 October – 17 December 2017

Restaurant at the End of the Universe World, Venice. Installation view, Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017. Photo: Shaun Matthews

Installation view of Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale at Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 14 October – 17 December 2017

Installation view, Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017. Photo: Shaun Matthews

IMPORT_EXPORT TM (Simon Glaister, Dominic Glaumuzina, et al.), Unbuilt. Installation view of Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale at Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 14 October – 17 December 2017

IMPORT_EXPORT TM (Simon Glaister, Dominic Glaumuzina, et al.), Unbuilt. Installation view, Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017. Photo: Shaun Matthews

Amritsar House, Wellington Athfield Architects, ongoing since 1968. Installation view of Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale at Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 14 October – 17 December 2017

Amritsar House, Wellington Athfield Architects, ongoing since 1968. Installation view, Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017. Photo: Shaun Matthews

Amritsar House (detail), Wellington Athfield Architects, ongoing since 1968. Installation view of Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale at Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 14 October – 17 December 2017

Amritsar House (detail), Wellington Athfield Architects, ongoing since 1968. Installation view, Future Islands: The New Zealand Exhibition at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi, Victoria University of Wellington, 2017. Photo: Shaun Matthews