Porches have long been a fixture of American homes, but they do more than provide shelter from the elements. At this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale — a prestigious annual showcase of the world’s biggest architectural ideas — the ubiquitous yet humble structure took center stage at the US pavillion, in an exhibition entitled “Porch! An Architecture of Generosity.”

With over 50 iterations of the concept (and an actual mass-timber porch where visitors can hang out) the installation highlights the roles porches play in American culture, particularly fostering neighborliness in the absence of sufficient public gathering spaces. It’s a celebration of the structure as “a shining example of unsung qualities in the nation’s built environment that deserve to be more widely celebrated and emulated,” Feargus O’Sullivan writes in a dispatch from his visit. Today on CityLab: America, ‘Nation of Porches’ 

— Linda Poon

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