Venice Biennale is on track for its scheduled opening on May 23

Following a week of speculation and concern over the mounting coronavirus outbreak, organizers for the 17th Architecture Biennale in Venice have announced that the event will proceed as planned. 

In a livestreamed announcement broadcast via the Biennale's website, Paolo Baratta, President of La Biennale di Venezia, explains that one of the main goals of the vent is to bring architecture into the front and center of public discourse. "Architecture," Baratta explains, "makes us more aware individuals, it makes us citizens, not just consumers." 

He adds, "The space we share, the place where a civilization has developed gives us the possibility to consider welfare in a much more complete way [...] it helps us donate to ourselves some happiness."