XXIV. TRIENNALE OF DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE IN MILAN: CZECH PARTICIPATION

Commissioner: Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
Director: Radim Vondráček
Curator: Iva Knobloch
Funding: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic

The Momentum of a Decision: architect Karolína Kripnerová and artist Janek Rous

Nowadays we see people experiencing homelessness as an everyday fixture of our streets. Their numbers are increasing—paradoxically, in wealthy cities most of all. They are people, yet for the most part we do not see them as part of our society. We overlook them, and to us they represent more an image of a failed life or an individual shortcoming. However, if we view their existence through the lens of a living organism, we recognize homelessness as the manifestation of a disease whose underlying cause needs to be treated. A deeper understanding of the situation of people in need can thus tell us something much more important about the current housing crisis that is creeping up on all of us.

The housing system is therefore a complex living organism that is nowadays clearly dysfunctional and impoverished. No matter which of the world’s metropolises we walk through, the situation is the same everywhere. The only difference is the number of people in need and the form and availability of social assistance. Let’s take a look at one such diseased city together. Let’s imagine Prague as a laboratory of the problems mentioned above, where we can decide to apply many of the best treatments available today in an attempt to cure it. Housing here is the most expensive and least affordable in Europe. The city privatized most of its housing stock after 1989, and it continues to pin its hopes for solving the housing crisis on the private market; however, in the construction of new buildings it does not impose appropriate conditions on developers to ensure that affordable housing is built efficiently. What’s more, the current touristification of the city, the phenomenon of “shared” housing such as Airbnb, and the growth of investment apartments are all exacerbating the situation.

The exhibition is divided into five pillars:
1. The Public Space: How is the unaffordability of housing reflected in its form and functioning?
2. Housing: Should it be an unquestionable human right?
3. People: Who is at risk of housing unaffordability and homelessness?
4. The Social System: Does it give people a helping hand, or does it instead contribute to deepening inequality?
5. The Economy: Where are we investing public funds, and what effect does this have?

The complexity of the topic of housing unaffordability is demonstrated by the many interconnected perspectives from which it can be viewed. To some extent, each of us has the opportunity to influence both the individual pillars and the current overall situation, whether by “merely” taking an interest in the issue, by informing other people, or by becoming actively involved. If we collectively decide to change the current configuration, we can gradually transform these unequal conditions into an environment favorable for all.

Political decision-making does not rest solely in the hands of elected representatives but should be perceived and established first and foremost as the shared responsibility of the whole of civil society.

XXII Triennale Milano

The 24th International Exhibition, under the title Inequalities, will run from May to November 2025. After exploring the themes of sustainability with Broken Nature in 2019 and the mysteries of the universe, from outer space to the invisible scale of viruses with Unknown Unknowns in 2022, the International Exhibition will conclude the trilogy by narrowing the reflection to the human scale with the political and urgent theme of growing inequalities.