Tempers flare over British Pavilion

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Unrest is growing over the Britishness of this year's British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

The regions aren't happy. Nor is Scotland. Pavilion curator Ellis Woodman has – how shall we say this? – kept things close to home.

Of the five practices so far unveiled to help Woodman deliver his vision of British housing today, all are within a 2.5-mile radius of his home at Building Design near Blackfriars Bridge in London, where he is buildings editor.

They are Sergison Bates (W1), Tony Fretton (EC2A), de Rijke Marsh Morgan (SE1), Witherford Watson Mann (E2) and Maccreanor Lavington (EC1).

An angry Alan Dunlop, of Glasgow-based gm + ad, told Astragal: 'Fundamentally the issue is not that Scotland is dismissed, which it clearly is and continues to be, but that everything outside the M25 is dismissed. The hypocrisy from the British Council is that they still insist the pavilion represents what is happening in Britain.'

At least Ellis is keeping his carbon footprint down.