Rome's Big City Life project part of Italy's Taking Care pavilion at Venice.

Big City Life, a major street art project in the south Rome neighbourhood of Tor Marancia, is part of the Italian entry at the 15th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, which runs until 27 November.

Big City Life involved the creation of 22 giant murals on the façades of social-housing blocks by well-known Italian and international street artists during the spring of 2015, and since then has established itself as an important part of Rome's contemporary art scene.

Under the title Taking Care – Progettare per il bene comune, the Italian pavilion at the Biennale promotes greater civic awareness for the common good by proposing realistic, alternative and sustainable ways of rejuvenating city suburbs.

Divided into three sections: Think, Meet, and Act, the pavilion was commissioned by Federica Galloni, the head of the art and contemporary architecture and urban suburbs department at Italy's culture ministry. The pavilion was curated by TAMassociati, a Venice-based architectural practice which for over 20 years has created socially sustainable projects often in disadvantaged places, including war zones in Afghanistan, Iraq and Senegal.

The Taking Care pavilion was constructed using the building materials left over from the Irish Origin Green pavilion at Milan's EXPO 2015, a project which highlighted Ireland's commitment to food security, nutrition and sustainability.

The title of the 2016 Biennale is Reporting from the Front and it is directed by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena who was recently awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.

The showcase of international architecture includes entries from 63 countries, of which four are participating for the first time: Philippines, Nigeria, Seychelles and Yemen. The British pavilion is entitled Home Economics while the US entry is called The Architectural Imagination.

The architecture section of the 120-year-old Venice Biennale was established in 1980 although an architecture category had been included in the art biennale since 1968.

Events take place at the historic Giardini and Arsenale as well as at various venues throughout the city. For full details see website.