NEWS

Dr. Pasquale De Paola, Louisiana Tech Associate Professor in the School of Design, has been invited to participate in the Venice Biennale’s Italian Pavilion for the 17th International Architecture Exhibition Tuesday, Sept. 14.

The every-other-year exhibition is a sort of “World’s Fair of Architecture,” said SOD Director Karl Puljak. “It’s a big celebration. Every country is showing their stuff: you have a Danish presentation, and American one, and so on. Different countries set up pavilions, and someone is invited to lead each pavilion for each country. That’s what Pasquale will do for the Italy pavilion; this is a huge honor for him since it’s his home.”

The exhibition’s theme is about resiliency in design and planning; De Paola was selected to lead the “Towards 2050—Visions from 2050” forum for his research and teaching on this subject.

“Pasquale has led several junior-level studios at Tech on the subject, using coastal communities and developments along river ways in Louisiana and elsewhere as sites to develop smart design strategies with regard to climate and extreme weather events,” Puljak said. “He has also written and presented extensively about the subject and serves as our representative/contributor to LURAC (Louisiana Universities Resilient Architecture Collaborative).

Due to the pandemic, the forum will be held virtually and will be accessible here. De Paola presentation is scheduled from 8–11 a.m.

“I will be talking about resiliency through the research and work developed in two design studios (ARCH 415) I taught in 2018 and 2019, which addressed sustainable strategies and new architectural directions for a more resilient North Louisiana,” he said.

The event, presentations and debate will all be in Italian.

The exhibition began May 22 and concludes Nov. 21.