OMA presents at the Venice Biennale the revival of two European cities

OMA – Office for Metropolitan Architecture presents projects for the regeneration of the Paris commercial quarter La Défense and the neglected fishing port of Saint Elia in Cagliari, Italy, at the 11th International Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Master Plan for La Défense
The OMA project is displayed in the reconstructed Querini Stampalia building, designed by Carlo Scarpa. The curator of the exhibition featuring a total of thirteen proposals from various teams for the La Défense quarter is Francis Rambert.
The OMA project is based on an understanding of La Défense's struggle to maintain and affirm its position on the international stage. The master plan introduces the idea of creating a nodal point that would transform La Défense into a compact and efficiently functioning commercial district. This goal is to be achieved by building a new central transportation hub located in the middle of the area, from which an internal shuttle service would connect to the neighboring Les Groues district, expanding the area and revitalizing the surroundings of La Défense.

Regeneration of Saint Elia
The OMA proposal is presented in the Italian Pavilion, in the "Housing Italy" section – 12 projects for housing and re-housing in the city, curated by Francesco Garofalo.
Garofalo invited a team of Italian architects to explore the challenges of finding a valuable home in the era of post-subsidized housing. The OMA project is integrated into the conceptual design by the Italian architectural firm Salottobuono, while other participants primarily examine proposals for converting industrial areas for residential purposes or settling immigrant communities.

Both exhibitions will be open until November 23.

The La Défense project was created in collaboration with the EPAD company and the Amsterdam architectural and planning firm One Architecture. The Italian Pavilion was supported by AREA and the Italian Ministry of Culture.

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OMA in Venice
Previous presentations by OMA-AMO at the Venice Biennale, as well as at the Venice Architecture Biennale, were produced by the AMO office's think tank. In 2006, OMA-AMO explored the impact of development in the Persian Gulf, and in 2005, they analyzed the expansion of the world's leading museums and galleries.