Venice Biennale

The Whitecity project was presented on four large seamless prints. An aerial photograph with the plan of Whitecity superimposed illustrated its urban context and immense scale. Below, the challenges and opportunities of the project were presented in a series of texts and vignettes. An image, the full height of the room gave a hint of the scale of its covered streets. A common theme throughout the British Pavilion was the architects’ audio explanation. A suspended and focused speaker played extracts from a dialogue between Ian Ritchie and the Whitecity client.
The film by Stopwatch produced by Dublin City Council and Ian Ritchie Architects documenting the story of The Spire and its fabrication was screened with headphones in front of a wall of calligraphic architectural etchings by Ian Ritchie. These etchings communicate the ethos of the practice and design concepts. A 4.2m long shot-peened and polished stainless steel “log” allowed visitors to relax to watch the film or simply to relax.