Venice has developed into a Mecca for international architects in the last few decades. The elite of contemporary architecture gather to celebrate the most prestigious architecture exhibition of our time at the Biennale in the shadows of St. Marks Place, the Rialto Bridge and the Doges Palace. It is all the more amazing that there is no current guide which covers the modern architecture of the largest open-air museum in the world. This Architectural Guide is a ticket to a journey of discovery off the beaten tourist path through Venice after 1950. The boat trips and walks in the guide lead to new residential complexes and converted harbour sheds, to works by Carlo Scarpa, Tadao Ando and David Chipperfield. This very practical travel guide also examines controversial new projects like the flood control barriers or spectacular conversions like that of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi by Rem Koolhaas. In addition to never realised designs by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn, the authors present all the Biennale pavilions from the last six decades.

Clemens F. Kusch (1963), guest professor of the University of Venice (IUAV), contact architect for gmp - von Gerkan, Marg and Partner / Hamburg, for the curators of the Biennale in Venice and correspondent for German magazines. Since 2009 he has coordinated the German-Italian joint project for the reconstruction of the Humboldt-Forum in Berlin. Anabel Gelhaar (1970), studied architecture at the University of Venice (IUAV). She worked in the office of Anthony Ng / Hongkong and for IUAV studi & progetti in Venice. Since 2007 she has worked on exhibition architecture and editorial work for cfk_architetti.