This year, the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale brings the architectural world together under the theme ‘How Will We Live Together?’. In times of pandemic, climate crisis and transition, many of the national pavilions in the Giardini will undoubtedly focus on processes, flows or diagrams, relegating architecture to yet another supporting role. The Belgian pavilion resolutely opposes this. At the risk of appearing out of touch, it makes an eloquent plea for architecture in times of shifting positions.

In 1980, the very first Venice International Architecture Exhibition opened with the now-famous Strada Novissima, an imaginary street in the Arsenale, composed of twenty façades designed by as many architectural practices. At the time, the façades celebrated ‘La Presenza del Passato’ and glorified a postmodern focus on classical columns and pediments, embraced figurative ornamentation, and played cheerfully with colour and irony.