Waterloo University’s
"Hylozoic Ground" Project

Ottawa – The Canada Council for the Arts announced today that "Hylozoic Ground," a project by PBAI (Philip Beesley Architect Inc.) in collaboration with the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, has been selected through a national juried competition to represent Canada at the 2010 Venice Biennale in Architecture. The Biennale, which is the world’s most prestigious architectural exhibition, will take place in Venice, Italy, from September to November 2010.

"Hylozoic Ground" is a uniquely Canadian experimental architecture that explores qualities of contemporary wilderness. The project will transform the Canadian Pavilion in Venice with an immersive environment composed of a network of interactive mechanical fronds, filters and whiskers that senses and responds to its human occupants. Arrays of touch sensors and actuators create a breathing motion, intended to draw visitors into the "shimmering depths of a forest of light." The project builds upon the interdisciplinary work of PBAI and collaborators, combining innovative research within architecture, engineering and sculpture. The exhibition is intended to tour a number of Canadian galleries following the installation in Venice.

Downloadable images of this project are available in the Canada Council image gallery at: www.canadacouncil.ca/news/imagegallery.

"Hylozoic Ground" was selected in consultation with an independent assessment committee comprised of Angela Grauerholz (Université de Québec à Montréal Centre de Design), Brigitte Shim (Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto), and Mark Wasiuta (Columbia University, New York). The committee commented that "the project proposes to be a unique response to the Biennale, treating it as a speculative laboratory for architectural experimentation."

The installation in Venice will be designed by architect Philip Beesley working with collaborators Andrew Hunter (independent curator) and Rob Gorbet (engineering director). Together, they bring many years of experience in innovative architecture, art and design.

The Canada Council for the Arts and Royal Architecture Institute of Canada are working together to provide financial support and assist with project oversight for Canada’s architectural representation in Venice. This collaboration is part of a larger project to investigate developing support for the advancement of the presentation and appreciation of contemporary Canadian architectural excellence in Canada and abroad.

Philip Beesley Architect Inc. (PBAI)

PBAI is an interdisciplinary design firm located in Toronto that combines public buildings and community facilities with exhibition and design projects. Interdisciplinary art, graphic design, exhibitions, stage and lighting projects are frequently undertaken by the practice, and advanced digital prototyping is a particular feature of the office’s method. Projects in the last year include installations in Madrid, Linz, Enschede, Copenhagen, Brussells, New York and Los Angeles. Recent built works include community and health facilities, a dance school and theatre, interpretive exhibition and museum galleries, a bank building, and innovative industrial design component systems.

Philip Beesley

Philip Beesley is an associate professor in the School of Architecture, University of Waterloo who practices architecture in parallel with digital media art. Mr. Beesley’s work in the last three decades has focused on public buildings accompanied by field-oriented sculpture and landscape installations, exhibition and stage design. His experimental projects in the past several years have increasingly worked with immersive digitally fabricated lightweight ‘textile’ structures, and the most recent generations of his work feature interactive kinetic systems that use dense arrays of microprocessors, sensors and actuator systems. Mr. Beesley’s work is widely published and exhibited, and has been distinguished by awards including VIDA 11.0, an international competition which rewards electronic works of art produced with artificial life technologies, the Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design Award, and by the Canada Council for the Arts Prix de Rome in Architecture. He was educated in visual art at Queen’s University, in technology at Humber College, and in architecture at the University of Toronto. To learn more, visit www.philipbeesley.com.

Andrew Hunter

Independent artist, writer and curator Andrew Hunter has produced exhibitions, publications and writings for public museums across Canada, in the United States and in Europe. He is widely known for his innovative use of collections, his explorations of history and his commitment to creating projects that are engaging and accessible to broad audiences. Mr. Hunter has held curatorial positions at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Vancouver Art Gallery, the Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Mr. Hunter has been Director of RENDER (University of Waterloo) since 2006 and will begin a new position as Director of DodoLab, a joint community/creative research program of Musagetes Café and University of Waterloo School of Architecture in January 2010.

Rob Gorbet

Dr. Rob Gorbet is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and is affiliated with the university’s Centre for Knowledge Integration. He is a key member of Gorbet Design, specializing in public interactive artwork and experiences. He is an interdisciplinarian, a mechatronics specialist, an award-winning teacher and a technology artist. His engineering research involves the design of actuators made of shape memory alloys and the specialized development of next-generation sensing and actuation systems emphasizing tune and subtle motion connoting empathy. He integrates these innovations with fundamental knowledge of mechanical engineering, electronics and software, applying them to innovative design of technology-mediated sculptural work. Mr. Gorbet’s collaborative interactive artworks have been exhibited across Europe and North America, and have won several awards, including the Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design Award and VIDA 11.0 first prize, an international competition which rewards electronic works of art produced with artificial life technologies.

Canada Council for the Arts

The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957. The role of the Council is to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. To fulfill this mandate, the Council offers a broad range of grants and services to professional Canadian artists and arts organizations in dance, integrated arts, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. It also promotes public awareness of the arts through its communications, research and arts promotion activities.

The Council administers the Killam Program of scholarly awards, the Governor General’s Literary Awards and the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts. The Canadian Commission for UNESCO and the Public Lending Right Commission operate within the Council. The Canada Council Art Bank, which has some 17,400 works of contemporary Canadian art in its collection, rents to the public and private sectors.

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Established in 1907, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a voluntary national association representing more than 4,000 architects. As the leading voice of architecture in Canada, RAIC works to affirm architecture matters; to celebrate the richness and diversity of architecture in Canada; and to support architects in achieving excellence.