If you only read one thing . . . read this. The pavilions are poorer that previous years, there seems to be little buzz or balls about - save the French who have inhabited their pavilion and are providing a much needed late night drinking venue for the Biennale crowd. The Arsenale is a powerful exhibition about the stats, data and issues of various global cities with a smattering of architectural projects from a rather predictable collection of architects. This Biennale is about a loss of architectural confidence - we have been seduced by the cultural theorists, the installation artists, the economists, and data crunchers so now fill rooms with wallpaper and facts and figures not ideas and dreams.
There is still plenty to see but not to get excited about.
