A marsupial-free zone in Venice

YOU won't find any marsupials wandering around Australia's pavilion at next year's Venice Architecture Biennale.

YOU won't find any marsupials wandering around Australia's pavilion at next year's Venice Architecture Biennale.

And not just because the country's 2008 offering was described in these pages as "a stoned wombat negotiating a set of glass-top coffee tables".

"I think the danger is approaching the biennale in a jingoistic way," 2012 pavilion co-creative director Gerard Reinmuth says.

"The critique has been about putting too much emphasis on Australianness. There'll be no beer cans and kangaroos in 2012, put it that way."

Reinmuth and Anthony Burke, the freshly minted creative directors of Australia's pavilion, in collaboration with design firm TOKO, yesterday launched their vision for the next biennale, calling on professionals across the country to "challenge traditionally held beliefs about what architecture can be".

"This is a scoping exercise," says Burke, director of firm Offshore Studio and head of architecture at the University of Technology, Sydney. "We really want to have a good look around Australia at quality work and innovative ideas -- ideas that are not just Australian, that are globally important -- and take that into an international forum."

Burke says the "look, smell and feel" of the exhibition, called Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture, will not be known until submissions from architects are decided on later this year. But he knows what he's looking for. "We want innovation. We want ideas that are being developed in Australia. We want to be able to say: 'This is a big issue in the world. This is what Australia is doing about it.' That ensures you have a seat at the big table."

Reinmuth, also an academic at UTS and a director of firm Terroir, says an area in which Australia is leading the way is indigenous housing. "There are a number of architects in Australia working to improve the living conditions of indigenous people," he says.

"This is a worldwide issue. And Australia has some innovative approaches. That could be one area we look at."

The 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, which runs from September to November next year, will host pavilions from across the world. Burke says Australia's offering will avoid the "cluttered mess" that plagues some pavilions and will be an "immersive, visceral experience". "Flash formations" will complement the main exhibition: free pop-up events across Venice, allowing the public to meet Australian architects, Reinmuth says. "This is a great responsibility," he adds. "We're both just so excited to get over there."