The 19th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, opening in May 2025, has been presented: a multidisciplinary laboratory to rethink the sustainability of the present.
The 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective, curated by Carlo Ratti, revolves around the idea of architecture as a practice that adapts collective intelligence to the challenges of the world. This theme will be explored from May 10 to November 23, 2025. Officially presented today at Ca’ Giustinian, the 2025 Architecture Biennale will serve as a multidisciplinary arena, bringing together architects, scientists, farmers, writers, engineers, artists, chefs, artisans, designers, and others to redefine the relationship between built environments and the natural world.
Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
Carlo Ratti emphasized, “In the last 70 years, the balance between cold and heat has been disrupted. Architecture must no longer just mitigate emissions, but learn to adapt to climate change.” Venice, a city built on water, becomes the starting point for a broader reflection on urban resilience and strategies for the survival of the built environment.
This edition will push the boundaries of human and artificial intelligence in designing more sustainable and livable cities. A key focus will be the relationship between nature and technology, featuring interactive installations that demonstrate how artificial systems can draw inspiration from the biosphere’s mechanisms to create more resilient architecture.
Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of the Biennale, pointed out that “the Venice Biennale is a true mirror of the Earth’s world-making process,” highlighting architecture’s political significance. He also referenced the concept of “domicidio” (home murder) coined by Luciano Violante in a recent editorial in Corriere della Sera, referring to the systematic destruction of civil infrastructure during war. This poignant issue – relevant in current conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza – will be part of the Biennale’s debate, with a focus on post-war reconstruction and urban regeneration in crisis contexts.
Carlo Ratti
Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia
Biennale Architettura 2025: Pavilions and Special Projects
In addition to the international exhibition, the national pavilions will number 66, with new entries from Azerbaijan, Oman, Qatar, and Togo. The Italian Pavilion, curated by Guendalina Salimei, will be titled TERRÆ AQUÆ. Italy and the Intelligence of the Sea and will occupy the Tese delle Vergini at the Arsenale. The Vatican Pavilion also returns, hosted at the Santa Maria Ausiliatrice complex, with an exhibition titled Opera Aperta, curated by Marina Otero Verzier and Giovanna Zabotti.
Among the special projects, Margherissima at the Austrian Powder Magazine in Forte Marghera, Mestre, will focus on the Marghera area and the contaminated land near the Liberty Bridge. This project, conceived by Nigel Coates, Michael Kevern, Guan Lee, John Maybury, and Jan Bunge, will be part of the International Exhibition. Furthermore, the collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum in London continues for the ninth consecutive year with the Pavilion of Applied Arts. Titled On Storage, and curated by Brendan Cormier in collaboration with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, this project will explore the global architecture of storage spaces that facilitate the movement of objects and will include a new six-channel film directed by DS+R.
The event will also link up with global networks, collaborating with institutions like the United Nations Conference and the Baukultur of Davos to address challenges related to ecological transition and environmental justice. The 2025 Biennale will thus become a convergence point between academic thought and real-world practices, aiming to influence international urban policies.
Biennale Architettura 2025: Installations and Projects in the Corderie and Venice
An open selection process has led to the participation of 750 authors (the highest number ever), including Pritzker Prize winners and young students, with a particular focus on inclusion: 280 projects will involve 500 interdisciplinary teams, 350 multigenerational teams, and 250 teams led by women.
The interventions in the Corderie at the Arsenale will be coordinated by the Berlin-based collective Sub, which will transform the space into an interconnected living organism. Many projects will involve broad collaborations, such as one between Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cittadellarte with scholars Sonia Seneviratne and David Bresch to explore the link between climate and architecture. Their interactive installation will demonstrate how atmospheric changes affect urban structures.
Other notable projects include Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley, who will explore the relationship between architecture and microbiology through an installation on bacteria, highlighting how invisible organisms influence the design of living spaces. Kengo Kuma and Iwasawa Lab will expand the potential of wood as a complex material with prototypes for modular, biodegradable buildings, while Boonserm Premthada will showcase an innovative use of elephant dung in construction, emphasizing the potential of natural materials and reuse in bioarchitecture.
“With the Central Pavilion under renovation throughout 2025, Venice will not only host the Architecture Biennale but will become a living laboratory,” added Ratti. “The city itself, one of the most exposed and vulnerable to climate change, will provide the backdrop for a new kind of exhibition, with installations, prototypes, and experiments scattered across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other districts.”
Le Corderie - Arsenale
Impossible Conversations
The 19th Architecture Biennale’s collective and multidisciplinary experience will culminate in a catalog, which, in addition to presenting the various sections of the exhibition, will feature Impossible Conversations. These will engage contemporary authors in dialogue with historical figures through the use of Artificial Intelligence. Some of the imagined conversations include Carlo Ratti with Christopher Alexander, Stefano Boeri with Ebenezer Howard, and Daniela Rus with Isaac Asimov.