Spanish Pavilion focuses on unfinished structures caused by Spain's economic crash

At the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale the Golden Lion-winning Spanish pavilion focused on unfinished structures left in the wake of the 2008 financial crash and architects who are developing a “radical” approach to rebuilding Spain.

Titled Unfinished, the pavilion presented a series of photographs of unfinished construction projects alongside 55 recent buildings that demonstrate a range of solutions to working under economic constraints.

According to co-curator and Spanish architect Iñaqui Carcinero, the economic crisis – which hit Spain harder than many other European countries – forced local architects to become more resourceful.

“[We have become] more radical, and more intelligent in many cases,” he told Dezeen. “My own experience of working under this economic constraint [is that] when you are suffering from budget cuts sometimes the solution becomes more intense, more radical, and even better.”

The exhibition is a direct response to Biennale curator Alejandro Aravena’s request for architects to show work that responded to the major challenges in their countries as part of his Reporting from the Front theme. The Spanish pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for best national pavilion at the 2016 Biennale.