ATTERBURY AND COOL CAPITAL TAKE LOCAL
INNOVATION TO GLOBAL PLATFORM
Atterbury Trust is delighted to have been invited to the 15th International
Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in Venice, where South
Africa will be showcasing its own ‘guerrilla’ biennale event - Cool Capital.
A design movement created by principal of Mathews & Associates
Architects, Pieter Matthews and sponsored by leading South African
property developer and investor, Atterbury, Cool Capital first took over
the streets of Pretoria in 2014.
Locally referred to as the world’s first DIY guerrilla biennale, Cool
Capital’s aim is to challenge the bureaucratic relationship between citizens
and public space. The project encouraged citizens to rediscover forgotten
parts of the city, inviting them to actively participate in the process of
rethinking Pretoria as space where people work, live and play.
Atterbury’s own roots are deeply embedded in the city of Pretoria and
Atterbury has been a significant contributor to the city’s urban environment
since its inception in 1994. Atterbury started the Atterbury Trust only four
years’ later with the express purpose of giving back to the community.
The theme for this year is ‘Reporting from the Front’ which aims to
explore how architecture can address social, political, economic and
environmental issues. Each of the 64 participating countries will present
a pavilion under the guidance of the country’ own curator to reflect and
uniquely respond to the theme.
Mathews, who has been appointed as curator for the South African
Pavilion, has selected local design and architectural projects that showcase
the best the country has to offer.
South Africa’s own pavilion features some physical installations pieces
from Pretoria, a short documentary film of the inaugural event and the
whole collection of 150 citizen-led projects by 1,000 participants in the
form of a catalogue available at the pavilion and bookstore.
By representing the work of hundreds of innovative participants, the
South African pavilion will provide a world platform to lesser-known South
African artists, designers, and most importantly, active citizens.
The Cool Capital action is also expected to continue at home this year
with the second Cool Capital running concurrently with the La Biennale di
Venezia starting in September and concluding in
October. South African citizens will be encouraged
to continuously explore small interventions which
could potentially bring about big change under this
year’s theme – “Small is Big”.
News Watch
Above: Atterbury Executive Trustee, Zahn Hulme, represented
Atterbury at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of La
Biennale di Venezia
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