Image: Maris Mezulis

Venice Biennale 2023 - Not for Sale! - by Architects Against Housing Alienation (AAHA)

Location: Venice, Italy

Date: 2023

Client: Canada Council for the Arts

Organizing Committee: Adrian Blackwell, David Fortin, Matthew Soules, Sara Stevens, Patrick Stewart, Tijana Vujosevic

Website: Ali Qadeer

Graphic Design: Chris Lee

AAHA was formed as a collective with a mutual passion to bring Canada’s housing crisis to the forefront of design discourse at the Venice Biennale in 2023. The collective, featuring leading architects, activists, and advocates from across the country, transformed the Canadian pavilion at the Giardini into a heartquarters for a campaign against commodified housing. 10 teams from across the country, 3 led by Indigenous peoples, offered different approaches to housing that aspire to allow all Canadians the opportunity for dignified, safe, and affordable housing.

https://aaha.ca/en

 

Interior of “Not for Sale!” featuring work by David T Fortin Architect Inc. (David Fortin, Celina Rios Nadeau, Matthew Baker) with SOLO Architecture (Jason Surkan), Grounded Architecture (Shawn Bailey, Laurie Aftana, Luxmy Ragunathan), University of Manitoba (Lancelot Coar, Naomi Ratte, Honoure Black), and One House Many Nations (Alex Wilson, Sylvia McAdam). Image: Maris Mezulis

Students working on the mezzanine at Not for Sale heartquaters. Image: Maris Mezulis

Interior of “Not for Sale!”. Image: Maris Mezulis

Students work with professor Matthew Soules (UBC) in the Land Back garden.