For the 2021 edition of the Venice Biennale, Publica took part in the Future School exhibition at the Korean pavilion, and also featured in a publication that ran alongside the Garden of Privatised Delights exhibition at the British pavilion.

Garden of Privatised Delights: British Pavilion

For the British pavilion, we contributed an essay to the exhibition catalogue, titled ‘Building A Child Friendly City’. The publication, compiled by curators Manijeh Verghese and Madaleine Kessler, edited by design journalist Amy Frearson, and designed by London studio Kellenberger-White, was intended to be a departure from a tradition exhibition text. Instead, it was devised as a ‘manual’ that gives people agency to change how they occupy public space.

Publica’s essay sat alongside those of other experts in the field, as well as interviews with the practices that designed the exhibition’s physical spaces.

In May 2020 (the original opening date of the Biennale) our Director, Anna Mansfield, took part in the virtual panel discussion Immateriality in the Garden of Privatised Delights where she spoke about role of material and immaterial play in the design of public spaces.

Future School: Korean Pavilion

In the Korean Pavilion, which was curated by Hae Won Shin, Publica worked with community organisation Energy Garden and a group of young people to explore how London’s transport networks can be transformed into instruments for youth-led climate action and social inclusion.

Named ‘Teaching Civic Urbanism’, the project took place both online and inside the Korean Pavilion, which, for the duration of the biennale, was transformed into ‘Future School’ – an initiative that brought together people and projects looking to build a better future.

It culminated in a dedicated area on the Future School website, and a film that was played inside the pavilion over a two-day period in October.