On the 14th edition (2014) - for the first time in the history of the International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia - a general theme was given to the national pavilions. Volume went to Venice to read and review the pavilions messages, and makes the case for building a nation.

They were to be historical shows, focused on the impact of modernity on a country’s architecture. What it produced was not just a global survey of twentieth century construction, but also heroic stories of nation-building. Yes, architecture can build nations. Today, we seem far from that notion. The nation-state is either giving up on itself, or exploited through tyrannical regimes. Meanwhile architects are hardly taking up the cause.

On the 14th edition (2014) - for the first time in the history of the International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia - a general theme was given to the national pavilions. Volume went to Venice to read and review the pavilions messages, and makes the case for building a nation.

They were to be historical shows, focused on the impact of modernity on a country’s architecture. What it produced was not just a global survey of twentieth century construction, but also heroic stories of nation-building. Yes, architecture can build nations. Today, we seem far from that notion. The nation-state is either giving up on itself, or exploited through tyrannical regimes. Meanwhile architects are hardly taking up the cause.

With contributions by: Ole Bouman, Rem Koolhaas, Stephan Petermann, Wouter Vanstiphout, Léa-Catherine Szacka, Luca Guido, Daniele Belleri, Ruth Lang, Nick Axel, Ryan King, Dan Handel, Justin Fowler, OfficeUS, Thomas Daniell, Andrés Jaque, Mariana Pestana, Bart Lootsma, Azadeh Mashayekhi, Brendan Cormier, Rob Dettingmeijer, dpr-barcelona + as special insert ‘Open: a Bakema Celebration’, the catalogue to the Dutch pavilion.