Rem Koolhaas lights up the Venice Architecture Biennale

This year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, which kicks off in just a few days, will display an illuminated archway designed by biennale director, Rem Koolhaas, and created in collaboration with Swarovski.

Luminaire is installed at the entrance to the Monditalia exhibition, where Koolhaas tells the history of Italy through its relationship to architecture. The wooden structure (some 20 feet high and nearly 65 feet long) was built by a family of craftsmen in Puglia and references the grand Renaissance façades of the city’s famed palazzi. The arch is decorated with over 30 pounds of tiny crystals that sparkle against thousands of colorful glass lights.

A brief video from the biennale’s set-up (oddly set to music that sounds like Sweet Home Alabama) gives a glimpse of the arch’s installation, and perhaps new meaning to Koolhaas’ famous quote, “Infrastructure is much more important that architecture.”

The 14th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia runs from June 7 to November 23, 2014.