Dezeen is in Venice this week for the preview of the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale, which opens to the public on Wednesday and runs until 25 November.

See our photos from the first day on Facebook, see all our preview stories here and watch our interview with director of the biennale David Chipperfield here, in which he urges the profession to address “the 99.99% of the rest of the world which architects are not dealing with” in order to avoid becoming merely “urban decorators.”

Above image: Vessel by O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects in the Arsenale

OMA present an archive of buildings designed by European local authority architects in the 1960s and 70s at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012, which opens to the public this week. More »

Dezeen Wire: this year's Venice Architecture Biennale isn't about the genius of any single architects, director David Chipperfield explained today at the press preview of the exhibition. More »

With the Venice Architecture Biennale opening next week, here's a full transcript of our interview with its director David Chipperfield, who explains the thinking behind this year's theme, Common Ground.

Chipperfield stresses the need for the profession to address "the 99.99% of the rest of the world which architects are not dealing with." Otherwise he says, architects risk being relegated to being "urban decorators." More »

London studio FAT will create an exhibition dedicated to architectural copying inside a 5-metre-high model of Palladio's Villa Rotunda for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 next week. More »

Zaha Hadid will present a pleated metal funnel at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 later this month (+ movie). More »

Dezeen Wire: architect Winy Maas of MVRDV and the studio's think tank The Why Factory will present 676 miniature LEGO towers at the Venice Architecture Biennale later this month for an exhibition to promote the inclusion of architectural discourse within European Union development policies. More »

Dezeen Wire: Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira is to be awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the opening of the 13th International Architecture Biennale in Venice on 29 August. More »

Movie: in this interview filmed at the Italian Cultural Institute in London yesterday, Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs speaks to architect David Chipperfield, director of the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale. More »

Dezeen Wire: the British Council have revealed the names of architects, curators and researchers who will gather material about exotic places to present at an exhibition entitled Venice Takeaway in the British Pavilion at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.

The list includes London architecture studios dRMM and Aberrant Architecture, as well as London Architecture Diary editor-in-chief Elias Redstone and non-profit organisation Forum for Alternative Belfast.  More »

Dezeen Wire: architect David Chipperfield, the curator for this year's Venice Architecture Biennale, has revealed that the title for this year's show will be Common Ground. More »

Dezeen Wire: the British Council will invite architects to conduct research projects in far-flung places and present their findings at an exhibition entitled Venice Takeaway in the British Pavilion at next year's Venice Architecture Biennale. More »