Knowing how to use Knowledge

“Sapere come usare il Sapere” [Knowing how to use Knowledge] is the display mounted at the Venice Pavilion within the sphere of the 17^th International Architecture Exhibition. 608 designs in 89 frames, 16 project models, 5 hanging sculptures created by the artisans of Venice and 14 works sculpted with a chainsaw by Michele De Lucchi tell the story of the Earth Stations, with a focus on the Education Stations: five buildings for training that came about from a reflection on the educational role of the built space and from a study of the influences exercised by it on people’s psyches. The suite of wooden models runs along a table, specially created, that follows the arching course of the pavilion. The five aerial sculptures, composed of an interweaving of wooden slats, define a more intimate space above the models; they are an invitation to raise the gaze and to reflect on the words of Vitruvius according to which “the architect must know astronomy if he wants to build roofs”, because when you build a roof you are creating not only a shelter from the rain but also something that connects us with the vault of the heavens. The large curved wall that embraces the space of the Venice Pavilion is laid out as a collection of themed compositions consisting of designs looking back over the progression of studies realised for the Earth Stations project. Each painting tells of the spontaneous evolution of an architectural form: the designs make visible the mental forms and the ideas that are modified through the very act of putting them on paper.