ABSTRACT
The Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas was the director of the 2000 biennale. His overall theme was “Less Aesthetics, More Ethics”. Fuksas himself does not have a reputation as an architect concerned with social problems, but the theme had a hint of social concern reflecting the introspective mood in the architectural world. Many countries did exhibit specific projects tackling social issues such as low-income housing and environmentally friendly housing. However, they too received poor reviews. The exhibits were like the pamphlets of big construction firms that try to get more work by selling themselves as socially responsible. Recognizing that such exhibits had an unpleasant commercial air about them, France merely had white walls on which were written sociological messages. It was certainly not the commercial, but critics wondered what an exhibit of mere words had to do with an architecture exhibition.
