This research investigates architectural exhibitions that explore heritage and preservation to make them present within contemporary practices and audiences or have contributed to the creation of heritage. It focuses on the Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Triennale Milano, and the MPavilion. They host architectural exhibitions in/as pavilions situated on sites where heritage and preservation issues create a significant contextual influence. However, heritage concerns within these case studies are not only addressed through exhibitions and following programs. The pavilions themselves are architectural structures that remain present in the city and continue to engage with it. Moreover, the conceptual understandings of heritage that differ in Europe and Australia affect temporary or permanent pavilion dynamics and influence the cultural and political landscapes shaping the chosen case studies.
The research brings together historical and practice-based methodologies. It traces preservation, heritage, exhibition and pavilion concepts, and histories of the case studies through interviews with associated experts, diagramming, and creating exhibition proposals. It aims to discover whether interventions of architectural exhibitions in/with/as pavilions focused on heritage questions can be a form of (experimental) heritage practice.
