Before I came to Venice I thought about Modernity and about the new museum I visited in Como recently dedicated to the works of Sant’Elia, who was the star architect of the Futurist Movement. I always loved his drawings, yet glad that the Futurists’ plans for new cities were not realized. I was therefore surprised that in Como there is an impressive – lakseside– war monument designed by Sant’Elia. He died in La Grande Guerra, as the first world war is referred to, especially in Northern Italy, and many war ruins near Trento remind of the fierce battles that took place over the Austrian- Italian border. http://antoniosantelia.org/

Yesterday, I visited the Arsenale, one of two main venues of the Biennale, which this year is dominated by monditalia, a scan. Taking Italy as a ‘fundamental’ country this exhibition shows 41 architectural case studies of young architects and researchers, spread over the Italian continent, organized geographically from south to north. The Alps are last. The study investigated the mapping of the border across the Alps, and especially its difficulties. These days satellite technologies make mapping easier, however, new challenges arise. The melting of the glaciers make that the surface of the earth across the Alps is changing at rapid rates. Borders have to be newly negotiated.