The Ambassador to Italy Mr. Patrick HENNESSY is to officially inaugurate an exhibition by the Irish architects Henghan Peng at the Irish Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition as part of la Biennale di Venezia on Monday August 27th at 5.30pm.

The exhibition, titled ‘Shifting Ground’ is one of 56 national pavilions and represents Ireland to hundreds of thousands at one of the most important architectural showcases in the world. At the heart of the exhibit, which was coordinated for Ireland by Commissioner, Elizabeth FRANCIS, and Curator, John McLAUGHLIN, is the idea that contemporary Irish architecture has a global identity bound up in transnational collaborations of world-class work.

The Dublin-based architects Heneghan Peng are currently working in three continents and are the architects responsible for the new Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre in Antrim, a bridge at the London Olympics and the new Museum at the Pyramids in Egypt.

Ireland is one of the most globalised countries in the world, and this exhibit looks at architecture’s relation to networked flows of products, data, and knowledge. It asks how could a global architecture be grounded culturally, philosophically and spatially? How can it situate itself outside of shared national reference points?

The Pavilion of Ireland is composed of a series of wall drawings and a 12-meter long bench constructed of interconnected sections for resting.

While heneghan peng are the official Ireland at Venice delegation, four more Irish architects are featured at Venice. Two firms – Grafton Architects and O’Donnell + Tuomey – were chosen by the Director of the Biennale to feature in the exhibition’s notable international curator’s programme. A fourth firm – Clancy Moore Architects – is to be included in the Backstage Architecture exhibition and book, a show presenting work by 56 architects under the age of 40, selected from around the globe. Finally, Dublin practice Boyd Cody Architects are among the Greek and international practices invited to contribute to the Greek Pavilion.

The 13th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia opens to the public on 29th August 2012 and continues until 25th November 2012. For more details please visit www.shiftingground.ie