‘SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness’ is the Dutch contribution to the 19th Architecture Biennale in Venice, curated by Amanda Pinatih. We were asked to design a queered sports bar that does not deal in the binary opposition between us and them, ally and opponent, but rather serves cooperation and playful subversion. Inspired by social designer Gabriel Fontana’s games, which invite new ways of relating and cooperating, the scenography not only serves to support his work and the videos and soundscapes created by Alice Wong and Luca Soudant: it also serves as an installation in its own right. Gerrit Rietveld’s iconic square pavilion is re-shaped into a space where the strength of sports lies in softer values. The hexagonal form of the added structure takes its cue from one of Fontana’s new games, itself inspired by Asger Jorn’s three-sided football game. This form traditionally suggests values like harmony, equality, and connection. The metal structure is shaped like the sideboards at a football field, those your parents lean on when cheering you on, but the usual hardboard is replaced with soft furnishings – with so-called cafe curtains. In the middle stands a column that carries six screens displaying Fontana’s games as well as nine soft reflective trophies for such champions as the ‘joyful disruptor’ and ‘alliest ally’. Bringing a wave of colour to the Architecture Biennale, the installation’s scheme is based on the non-binary pride flag: black and white are mellowed with fresh yellow and purple. Across the walls the slogan ‘you’ll never play alone’ appropriates football’s famous ‘You’ll never walk alone’ – a line which itself has surprising roots in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. A reimagined foosball table, bent and softly furnished, invites a dynamic spirit by being playable from one side only: no teams, no obvious direction, but plenty of balls and lots of joy and chaos. ‘SIDELINED’ aims to be inclusive of various bodies: the barstools have different heights and sizes – as does the bar: it flows around the room inviting, here, a sitting position then, there, a standing one. The foosball table has a height that is accessible for wheelchair users – and has telescopic rods that do not poke your eyes out at the other side when the game is played with too much enthusiasm. It has figurines that are neither gendered nor uniform: they represent human diversity in different shapes and sizes. On the sides hang the variously-sized shirts worn by the players – from different generations and communities – in Fontana’s latest game ‘Anonymous Allyship’ filmed at Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo, Venice’s football stadium. The graphic design further deconstructs the binary opposition between soft and powerful, subverting the usual condensed, bold, italic, and non-serif sports typographies. It uses Skrappa Wide by Jacob Wise a rounded, softer, almost cute font, that nevertheless projects strength and power – Skrappa is, coincidentally, now also in use by one of the Netherlands’ major football teams. sidelined2025.nl