LONDON.- The British Council has appointed muf architecture/art Llp as Artistic Directors of the British Pavilion for the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale.

muf architecture/art Llp is a collaborative practice with a UK and international track record of process driven work with physical and propositional outcomes. The British Council invited proposals that focused on collaboration, spatial experience, a relationship to the British Pavilion architecture and enabled adaptation or transformation. muf’s approach, Two Way Traffic, will make connections and enable knowledge exchange between Venice and Britain.

The 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture will be open to the public from 29th August to 21st November 2010. This year’s Biennale is under the directorship of Kasuyo Sejima, a leading exponent of contemporary architecture. Describing the rationale for her choice of theme, Sejima commented: `The idea is to help people relate to architecture, help architecture relate to people and help people relate to themselves.’

The UK’s international body for cultural relations, the British Council, has managed the British Pavilion since 1938. Designed by an Italian architect in 1887 as a tearoom to serve the Giardini di Castello, the building was extensively refurbished by the British Council in 1995 to mark La Biennale di Venezia’s centenary year.

This year’s Advisory Panel for the British Pavilion were Christopher Egret, Director, Studio Egret West; Kathryn Findlay, Director Ushida Findlay Architects; Pedro Gadanho, Professor at Faculty of Architecture, the University of Porto; Michael Hegarty, Director, PLACE; Sarah Ichioka, Director, Architecture Foundation (and Chair of panel); Kieran Long, and Vicky Richardson, Editor, Blueprint and forthcoming Director of Architecture, Design, Fashion, British Council.