Concept for Manifesta 12 Palermo: "The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence"

Manifesta 12 will co-inhabit Palermo as a laboratory to investigate the challenges of our time and look for traces of possible futures.

Strategy of Intervention. Palermo Atlas. Image courtesy of OMA

The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence will host four main sections, each touching on key topics of the concept: Garden of Flows, Out of Control Room, City on Stage and Teatro Garibaldi, as the main center of Manifesta 12.

The concept of Manifesta 12 was extracted from the Palermo Atlas, a research by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli , Creative Mediator and Partner at OMA, into the social, cultural and geographical textures of the city, intended as a source for audiences to understand contemporary transformations through the eyes of Palermo.

Statement by OMA

Rome, November 27, 2017 - During a press conference in Rome on November 27, Manifesta 12 Creative Mediators Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Bregtje van der Haak, Andrés Jaque, and Mirjam Varadinis unveiled the concept for the upcoming Manifesta 12 biennial in Palermo.

Titled The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence, the concept explores coexistence in a world moved by invisible networks, transnational private interests, algorithmic intelligence and ever-increasing inequalities through the unique lens of Palermo – a crossroads of three continents in the heart of the Mediterranean. Closely collaborating with Palermitan partners, Manifesta 12 will co-inhabit Palermo as a laboratory to investigate the challenges of our time and look for traces of possible futures. The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence will host four main sections, each touching on key topics of the concept: Garden of Flows, Out of Control Room, City on Stage and Teatro Garibaldi, as the main center of Manifesta 12.

The concept of Manifesta 12 was extracted from the Palermo Atlas, an investigation by OMA into the social, cultural and geographical textures of the city, intended as a source for audiences to understand contemporary transformations through the eyes of Palermo. It is the first time that Manifesta kicked-off with a research by an architecture office.

Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Creative Mediator and Partner at OMA: “Palermo Atlas is a study of the past and present city, a collection of patterns, perceptions, stories and testimonies gathered on the ground and supported by data. On the one hand, the Atlas uses the city of Palermo as a point of departure to tell the story of the Mediterranean and Europe at large; on the other it is a reflection on characteristics that are specific to Palermo.”

Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli’s work at OMA/AMO focuses on preservation, scenography, and curation.

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Veduta di Palermo, Francesco Lojacono, 1875. Palermo Atlas. Image courtesy of OMA

Unbuilt projects in Palermo. Image courtesy of OMA

Hindu Temple, via de Spuches. Photograph © Delfino Sisto Legnani. Image courtesy of OMA

Palermo Atlas Cover. Image courtesy of OMA

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Manifesta 12 will open on June 16, 2018 until November 4, 2018.

Ippolito Pestellini LAPARELLI

Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli joined OMA in 2007 and is based in Rotterdam. A partner since 2014, Ippolito’s work at OMA/AMO has a focus on preservation, scenography, and curation. Currently Ippolito is leading the transformation design of the 16th century Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin and the design of Repossi’s flagship store on Place Vendôme in Paris. Recent work includes Monditalia, a multi-disciplinary exhibition focused on Italy, at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale; scenography for the Greek theater of Syracuse in Sicily (2012); and the co-curation of Cronocaos, OMA’s exhibition on preservation at the 2010 Venice Architectural Biennale. Through collaborations with different brands including Repossi, Galleries Lafayette, Knoll, and Prada his activity extends to research, product design, temporary installations, and publications. Since 2010, Ippolito is responsible for a range of AMO projects with Prada, including the stage design for the brand’s fashion shows and special events, and the art direction of videos. He contributes to exhibition design for Fondazione Prada, with projects such as When Attitudes Become Form: 1969/2013 and Serial Classics (2015). Ippolito holds a Master of Architecture from the Politecnico di Milano.

OMA. Office for Metropolitan Architecture

Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. AMO, a research and design studio, applies architectural thinking to domains beyond. OMA is led by eight partners – Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen van Loon, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, Chris van Duijn, Jason Long, and Managing Partner-Architect David Gianotten – and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. OMA-designed buildings currently under construction are the renovation of Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, The Factory in Manchester, Hangzhou Prism, the CMG Times Center in Shenzhen and the Simone Veil Bridge in Bordeaux.

OMA’s completed projects include Taipei Performing Arts Centre (2022), Audrey Irmas Pavilion in Los Angeles (2020), Norra Tornen in Stockholm (2020), Axel Springer Campus in Berlin (2020), MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre (2020), Galleria in Gwanggyo (2020), WA Museum Boola Bardip (2020), nhow RAI Hotel in Amsterdam (2020), a new building for Brighton College (2020), and Potato Head Studios in Bali (2020). Earlier buildings include Fondazione Prada in Milan (2018), Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow (2015), De Rotterdam (2013), CCTV Headquarters in Beijing (2012), Casa da Música in Porto (2005), and the Seattle Central Library (2004).

AMO often works in parallel with OMA's clients to fertilize architecture with intelligence from this array of disciplines. This is the case with Prada: AMO's research into identity, in-store technology, and new possibilities of content-production in fashion helped generate OMA's architectural designs for new Prada epicenter stores in New York and Los Angeles. In 2004, AMO was commissioned by the European Union to study its visual communication, and designed a colored "barcode" flag, combining the flags of all member states, which was used during the Austrian presidency of the EU. AMO has worked with Universal Studios, Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, Heineken, Ikea, Condé Nast, Harvard University and the Hermitage. It has produced Countryside: The Future, a research exhibited at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York; exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including Public Works (2012), Cronocaos (2010), and The Gulf (2006); and for Fondazione Prada, including When Attitudes Become Form (2012) and Serial and Portable Classics (2015). AMO, with Harvard University, was responsible for the research and curation of the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale and its publication Elements. Other notable projects are Roadmap 2050, a plan for a Europe-wide renewable energy grid; Project Japan, a 720-page book on the Metabolism architecture movement (Taschen, 2010); and the educational program of Strelka Institute in Moscow.

Published on: December 2, 2017

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