Poland 2016

In the consumption–driven world that we live in, we increasingly pay attention to whether the products we buy bear a ‘fair trade’ mark. And what about architecture? As its consumers, we perceive buildings as part of our natural environment, as something that is given to us. As long as construction works don’t interfere with our daily life, we tend to ignore them. As makers of architecture, in turn, we focus only on those parts of the process that we are personally responsible for, and often know little, or nothing, about the rest of the chain.

In response to the main theme of this year’s biennale, the exhibition in the Polish Pavilion reflects on what we consider the first front of architecture, that is, the construction site and the physical making of the building. Despite technological advances, building remains an unpredictable process and a struggle with the material. Manual labour is still needed to create buildings. Yet the contribution made by construction workers is missing from the architectural debate, as if their perspective didn’t matter at all.

By presenting the stories and testimonies of persons directly involved in the building process, we ask whether ‘fair trade’ is possible in the field. If so, what would it be? Is ‘fair building’ possible? We don’t focus on looking for culprits responsible for the abuses occurring at the various stages of the construction process. Rather, we create a space to reflect on how to make this process not only effective but 2also fair.