M9 - A New Museum for a New City exhibition is part of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale.

Agence Pierre-Louis Faloci (France), Carmassi Studio di Architettura (Italy), David Chipperfield Architects (Great Britain/Italy), Mansilla+Tuñón Arquitectos (Spain), Sauerbruch Hutton (Germany) and Souto Moura Arquitectos (Portugal) are the six architectural practices invited to enter an international competition for M9, a new cultural pole in the centre of Venice-Mestre, held by the Fondazione di Venezia which has conceived and sponsored this project and the future cultural space. Given the special nature of the project, in which a new construction must sit well with a historic building, the Foundation - with the consultancy of Francesco Dal Co and in collaboration with the IUAV university in Venice - invited leading professionals, renowned in the field of museum design and, more importantly, known for their sensitivity to the context, to enter the competition. Massimo Carmassi, David Chipperfield, Pierre-Louis Faloci, Luis Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón, Matthias Sauerbruch and Louisa Hutton and Eduardo Souto de Moura were selected because their designs are dignified and not outlandish and because they can provide concrete responses to the themes and issues posed by such a complex project as M9. These practices were asked to consider a pole comprising three different functions: a museum (a large building designed ex novo), retail provision (in the existing block) and services. The participants have risen to this difficult task with original and fascinating designs. The competition approach reiterated the specific and serious nature of a project that involved public administrations and protection bodies, and that differed substantially from other examples of competitions by invitation. In a highly significant new approach, the architects were given a contract and were asked to work in a uniform and easily comparable manner, both in terms of design and the future commitments required.

It would be impossible to understand the designs for the future hub without explaining its complex contents. What will M9 be? It will be a new-generation, mixed-use and versatile museum of international appeal. This is why M9 represents a major step towards the assertion of a cultural identity for ‘mainland’ Venice. Equally, it is an ambitious experiment that develops a new museum standard applied to a difficult and important theme – the history of the 20th century. A complex structure will house the Museum of the 20th Century, which will focus on the major social, economic, urban, environmental and cultural changes witnessed in the 20th century. The museum will be a driving force and a catalyst of a cultural offer and activities, a place of learning but also an agora where people can exchange ideas, prompted by interactive exhibitions, multi-sensorial exhibition designs, talks and conferences. There is more: there will also be an exhibition space for temporary exhibitions and educational services, centred on contemporary subjects and emerging economic and creative areas such as photography, architecture, design, graphic design, cinema, communication and advertising. A mediatheque-archive of the 20th century will enable visitors to consult films, audio-visual recordings, radio material and digital photographic and text archives. Talks, conferences and presentations will be held in the auditorium. This new cultural and retail pole will symbolise the architectural and urban relaunch of the surrounding area. M9 aspires to be a multi-faceted and complex project that responds to a need and a desire long expressed by the population of the four mainland Venice municipalities for a museum space and cultural centre on a par with the most advanced European experiences.