The Project

These are plans for a Canadian pavilion situated in Venice. The design was one of the successful entries in the National Ideas Competition for the 1995 Venice Biennale International Exhibition of Architecture. Original plans were given on two 24 inch square panels to be displayed in the Corderia of the Arsenale. The theme of the competition was "Reciprocity: Emerging Territories in Canadian Architecture."

The competition was organized by the Canadian Centre for Architecture, the Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture, and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The ad hoc Advisory Committee included: Sandy Hirshen, Director, School of Architecture, University of British Columbia, representing the Canadian Council of University Schools of Architecture (CCUSA); Phyllis Lambert, Director, Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), Montreal (Committee chair); and Kim Storey, Toronto Architect and Regional Director of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, representing the RAIC. The professional advisor for the competition was Larry Wayne Richards, M. Arch., OAA, RAIC, AIA/IA.

Notes on Collaborators

Tom Bessai and Maria Denegri are a husband/wife team of graduate architects. Most recent conceptual works include The Juice, a Romantic Competition for the Civic Centre of L.A., and a Public Art Proposal for the new Vancouver Public Library. Their projects tend toward interventions, temporary structures and restorations.

Tom Bessai received a B.A in Art and Design from the University of Alberta, and a B.Arch. from the University of British Columbia. He is presently working for Allan Diamond Architect in Vancouver.

Maria Denegri received a B.A. in Art History and a B.Arch. from the University of British Columbia. Her thesis project, "Banca Rotta: Power Relations and the Modernist Bank Branch" is currently part of the Urbanarium Exhibit at the Vancouver Museum.

Bruce Haden works with Hotson Bakker Architects in Vancouver is the principle of Haden Architect. He has worked for Arthur Erickson in Vancouver and Ahrends, Burton and Koralek in London, England. Haden earned his B.E.S. from the University of Waterloo (1985) and his B.Arch. from the University of British Columbia where he was the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medalist. He is a thesis committee member and guest critic at the U.B.C. School of Architecture and the British Columbia regional correspondent for Canadian Architect magazine. Previous work includes the "Shy House" (a conceptual project with Andrew Best) a winning entry in the Hillside Folly exhibition in 1992 and a year as the Design Critic for CBC Radio's Early Edition in 1992-93.

Tim McLaughlin is a writer of hypertext fiction. Recent works are 25 Ways to Close a Photograph available in NWHQ, and Winter: Notes Toward Absolute Zero forthcoming from Eastgate Systems. Recent criticism includes "Artificial Memory: Mnemonic Writing in the New Media".

Studio