British Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale

For the architecture biennale starting this June, director Rem Koolhaas has asked all the national pavilions to develop exhibitions on the theme of absorbing modernity 1914-2014. RIBAJ editor Hugh Pearman went to see the curators of the British Pavilion, Sam Jacob of FAT and Wouter Vanstiphout of Crimson architectural historians, to ask them what it will all be about.

It seems that “A Clockwork Jerusalem” will combine high seriousness and high camp, running the gamut from William Blake through Cliff Richard’s videos and album artwork to the concrete rubble of demolished utopias – and the hopes for better new ones.

In our second clip, Sam and Wouter respond to the Government’s call for new garden cities.  Yes, they say, these actually could revive that postwar dream of a better society in an ideal environment.