The Pavilion of Egypt is presenting "The Blessed Fragments" at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale which has opened to the public on May 22 in Venice, Italy. 

Themed as The Blessed Pavilion, the pavilion is curated by Dr. Mostafa Rabea Khalifa, who is the head of the design team. The pavilion's theme underlines the idea of (from one in all to all in one; from individuality to unity). 

The pavilion reveals the humble blessing reality of common people, unity, the power of integration and the emerging balance and is divided to two main complementary zones.

"(ONE IN ALL) - on the left- represents the beautiful diverse characteristics  and the special individuality of  common  people who works humble jobs  in local communities. Visitors can capture themselves among of them. (ALL IN ONE) –on the right- as a complementary of the left.  This zone merges them all together - step by step - revealing their true strength, essentiality and importance in local communities." Read more details below with the description of the team. 

This atmosphere is supported by a written quote on the front wall said by Lalonde on 1994 "We are unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation". 

"Hey you, Hello,

It’s me. Come on. Can’t you see? Come closer, Look at me? No... No… more and more closer.

It is not my appearance you see; it is not the way I look. Come on; discover the origin of joy through my Face wrinkles. Go deep and meditate what is hiding inside of me. Can you see now my real beauty mixing inside my humble fragments?  If so, now you can see me. Sometimes they call me one of the poor people. Sometimes they call me one of the community scum. Actually, I am the black and white, the positive and negative. You need me to complete your world. I am the one who contains the peaceful balance that everyone needs to sustain this life; the one who is selling you fresh bread every day with a humble smile. I am the one that everyone needs in this life.

I am the one in all and the all in one.

Please, aggregate my humble fragments considering me; my real inner value. Let me reveal my inner peaceful balance while spreading the blessing bread among people. Let me integrate with all people who need to live -together- a better life

Before you go

Ask the planners, politicians and decision makers to consider me in their future strategies, in all of urban planning and development. Not only me, ask them to consider all of us; we are - the common people - who work vital essential humble jobs in local communities. Please, kindly, advise them we do not need a designer to rearrange us and put us in order. We do not need a clever to re-format us because we are simply varies in culture, habits and the way we live. We are simply spontaneous human beings. They may call us problems, fragments, obstacles of development and progress or delayers of the upgrading of coexistence with the global communities. 

Before you leave

Tell them we are proud. Yes, we are many. We are different. We are random, but we are not obstacles, we are positive potentials for better future. Together - we are one. Our unity is in our humble diversity. We are unity without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation. We are the secret of joyful living. We are the secret of the strength of living. We are one in all and all in one. Ask them - kindly with a warm smile – not to divide but to collect us and connect each one of us to the whole society.  Encourage them to combine and blend our humble fragments together in the fabric of this world. We may still be random fragments but if you can deliver this message To Whom It May Concern, so you can call us the Blessing Fragments.”

We are one in all and all in one

Best regards 

A woman who bake & sell breads

Based on the previous message, the pavilion is divided to two main complementary zones - right zone and left zone - by the central axis of the entrance. This axis is a representation of an imaginary mirror line between the message outer meaning and its deep content. It’s like a mirror line between her appearance and her inner true meaning that she has mentioned in the message, which reflects not only the outer shape but also reveals the inner humble blessing reality of common people true value, unity, the power of integration and the emerging balance. 

The entrance space is also divided to two fixed complementary partitions; white front on the left side and black back on the right side. By optical illusions they look like closed from different visual far perspectives. When visitors get closer to enter the pavilion - visually –the two partition go splitting up and separated from each other welcoming them as an introduction of the pavilion story line.      

The left zone - named (one in All) - represents the beautiful diverse characteristics  and the special individuality of common people who works humble jobs  in local communities. The team represents those using random sized portraits. 

These portraits are random in size, location, direction and height inside this zone. All of them colored in black and white using pop-art technique and captured by black frames. Some of them are suspended from the ceiling and some of them are standing up on the floor randomly. The spaces between them allow the pavilion visitors to walk through the captured portraits discovering and meditating the faces deep beautiful expressions of local people. 

In this zone, the visitors will find some empty capture frames they can interact with and capture themselves among a bunch of local people. The full theme of this zone is in black and white - with sacred spotlights - except only one red empty capture frame. This frame is located in the center of all portraits and facing the main long visual axis of the right opposite zone. This frame encourages the pavilion visitors to discover  the reason of leaving it empty and different than the surrounding theme.  

The right zone named (All in One) as an opposite complementary meaning of the left-side zone. Instead of capturing each one of local people inside an individual random portrait, this zone merges them all together - step by step - revealing their true strength, essentiality and importance in local communities. In this zone the fragments will be combined  - step by step-  until visitors reach the full integration and emerging  at the end of this zone. The complete integration is represented by an original big doodle designed especially for this pavilion. 

This zone contains organized transforming frames located on the main visual axis and pointed to the background doodle. In addition, it contains 3D architectural physical models to support the idea. 

These models located inside suspended random boxes. They are - accumulatively - divided and contain civilian stories of common people in urban and architecture environment. 

The scenes of each story distributed inside different boxes that the visitor can complete the story after seeing more than one box. The physical models are designed and made by 3D miniature techniques. 

This technique is representing architecture model in minimal scale that the visitors can see and discover the model details through tiny box openings. At the end of this zone, all fragments will randomly combined around the iconic doodle focusing on it.  The full theme color of this zone is black and white. 

The both sides  are connected together visually through the main long visual axis that connect the iconic empty red capture frame that located among the portraits in the left side with the iconic big doodle that located in the far background of the right side. 

In addition, they are connected - as well - through flying random fragments suspended from the ceiling that link the portraits with the doodle collecting all fragments together at the end. 

On the splitting edge between the 2 main zone, there is an awkward wall  that contains a connecting  gate connect the two pavilion sides supported with  an imaginary  written  message from a humble woman who bakes and sells bread as a representative of the common people bunch. 

She call herself one of the blessed fragments.

The 17th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice has opened to the public on 22 May 2021. The exhibition will be on view till 21 November 2021. 

This year’s architecture biennale is themed as "How will we live together?" by the curator Hashim Sarkis, the theme explores a widening context that helps architects to "imagine spaces in which we can generously live together".

All images courtesy of Egypt Pavilion

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