Biennale Architettura 2025: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.

BIENNALE ARCHITETTURA 2025

The 19^th International Architecture Exhibition, titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti and organised by La Biennale di Venezia, will open to the public from Saturday May 10 to Sunday November 23, 2025, at the Giardini, the Arsenale and at the Forte Marghera. The pre-opening will take place on May 8 and 9; the awards ceremony and inauguration will be held on Saturday May 10, 2025.

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF THE CURATOR

«Architecture has always been a response to a hostile climate. From the earliest “primitive hut,” human design has been led by the need for shelter and survival, driven by optimism: our creations have always strived to bridge the gap between a harsh environment and the safe, livable spaces we require.» Carlo Ratti stated.

«Today, that dynamic approach is being taken to a new level – as climate becomes less forgiving. In the fires of Los Angeles, in the floods of Valencia and Sherpur, in the droughts of Sicily, we have witnessed first-hand how water and fire are attacking us with unprecedented ferocity. The year 2024 marked a grim milestone as Earth registered its hottest temperatures on record, pushing global averages beyond the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. In just two years, climate change has accelerated in ways that defy even the best scientific models.»

CURATORIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• A) Intelligens serves as a dynamic laboratory, uniting experts across various forms of intelligence. For the first time, the Exhibition features over 750 participants: architects and engineers, mathematicians and climate scientists, philosophers and artists, chefs and coders, writers and woodcarvers, farmers and fashion designers, and many more. Adaptation demands inclusivity and collaboration.
• B) Curating on such a large scale required a fundamental shift in approach. The selection process has been open and bottom-up, guided by an interdisciplinary curatorial team. The Space for Ideas, our open call for projects from May 7 to June 21, 2024, generated an overwhelming global response. The flood of submissions was both thrilling and daunting, but it allowed us to discover fresh, lesser-known voices that might otherwise have been missed.
• C) The resulting participant pool spans generations—from seasoned professionals still innovating at ninety to recent graduates just beginning their careers. Pritzker Prize winners, former La Biennale di Venezia Curators, Nobel laureates, Royal Professors appear alongside emerging architects and researchers. This inclusion reflects our commitment to a diverse range of perspectives.
• D) This richness of contributions calls for a new approach to authorship. Intelligens challenges the tradition of the architect as the sole creator, with other professionals relegated to supporting roles. We propose a more inclusive authorship model, inspired by scientific research. In the time of adaptation, all voices driving design must be recognized and credited.
• E) In the era of adaptation, La Biennale di Venezia must collaborate with other institutions. Intelligens has forged connections with other global Institutions, the UN’s COP30 in Belem, C40, the Davos Baukultur Alliance, the Soft Power Club, and many others. Its public program, GENS, will host a chorus of events and conversations, engaging audiences both large and small.

VENUES

THE CORDERIE
«The Corderie opens with a stark confrontation: global temperatures rise while global populations fall. This is the reality architects must face in a time of adaptation. From here – explains Ratti – visitors will traverse three thematic worlds: Natural Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence, and Collective Intelligence. The Exhibition culminates in Out, and asks: can we look to space as a solution to the crises we face on Earth? Our answer is no—space exploration is not a way out but a means to improve life here, on the only home we know.»
«Each section is conceived as a modular, fractal space—an organism that links large and small-scale projects, creating a web of dialogue. The Exhibition design by architecture and design office Sub, directed by Niklas Bildstein Zaar, and the graphic design by Bänziger Hug Kasper Florio mirrors the interconnectedness we need to survive. Digital layers amplify and expand conversations, adding a new dimension to the exhibition.»

VENICE AS A LIVING LAB
«With the venue of the Central Pavilion under renovation in 2025, Venice will not just host the Biennale Architettura—it will become a living laboratory. The city itself – one of the most imperiled on Earth in the face of a changing climate—will serve as the backdrop for a new kind of Exhibition, where installations, prototypes, and experiments are scattered across the Giardini, the Arsenale and other neighborhoods».

BIENNALE COLLEGE ARCHITETTURA 2024 2025

Eight projects have been selected for the second edition of Biennale College Architettura 2024/25: Joelle Deeb (Syrian Arab Republic), Jia Wei Huang (Malaysia), Caterina Miralles Tagliabue (Spain), Agnes Thomasina Parker (Great Britain), Lucia Rebolino (Italy), Tanvi Khurmi (Canada), Rita Espinha Dos Santos Abreu Morais (Portugal), Florian Kilian Jaritz (Germany), Franziska Gödicke (Germany), Jaakko Julius Heikkilä (Finland), Emil Oscar Lyytikkä (Finland).

The goal of the College Architettura 2025 is to complement the 19th International Architecture Exhibition with a research laboratory for the development and production of projects using natural, artificial and collective intelligence to fight the climate crisis. Over 200 students, graduate students and emerging practitioners under the age of 30 from 49 countries around the world have joined the call for participation. The eight projects will receive a grant of 20,000 euros for the realization of the final work. The works will be presented, out of competition, as part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti.

NATIONAL PARTICIPATIONS

66 National Participations will organize their exhibitions in the historic Pavilions at the Giardini (26), at the Arsenale (22) and in the city centre of Venice (15). 4 are the new Participations: Republic of Azerbaijan, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, Togo.

• ITALIAN PAVILION: The Italian Pavilion at the Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale, sponsored and promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, is curated by Guendalina Salimei with the project TERRÆ AQUÆ. L’Italia e l’intelligenza del mare.
• HOLY SEE: The Holy See Pavilion, promoted by Prefetto del Dicastero per la Cultura e l’Educazione della Santa Sede, Cardinale José Tolentino de Mendonça, this year will be held in the Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice (Fondamenta S. Gioacchin, Castello 450). The exhibition is titled “Opera aperta” and curated by Marina Otero Verzier and Giovanna Zabotti.
• VENICE PAVILION: The City of Venice participates with the historical Venice Pavilion at the Giardini, with the exhibition titled Biblioteche. Costruendo l’intelligenza veneziana. The Venice Pavilion will have its own emanation in other institutional spaces and in the premises of the Università IUAV di Venezia.

LA BIENNALE COMMITENT TO CLIMATE ACTION

Since 2021, La Biennale di Venezia launched a plan to reconsider all of its activities in light of recognized and consolidated principles of environmental sustainability. In 2022 La Biennale obtained the carbon neutrality certification for all the events it held that year. This was made possible by carefully collecting the data on the causes of CO2 emissions generated by the events themselves, and on the adoption of consequent measures. The entire process for achieving, was conducted in compliance with the international standard PAS2060.

For the year 2025, the goal is to obtain the “carbon neutrality” certification in accordance with the new ISO 14068 standard, for all of La Biennale’s scheduled activities: the 82^nd Venice International Film Festival, the Theatre, Music and Dance Festivals and, in particular, the 19^th International Architecture Exhibition. For all the events, the most important component of the overall carbon footprint involves the mobility of the visitors. In this sense, La Biennale will engage again in 2025 in a communication campaign to raise the awareness of the participating public.

A Circular Economy Manifesto launched by Carlo Ratti, with guidance from Arup and input from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, strengthens La Biennale‘s commitment to this goal, promoting an increasingly sustainable model for the design, installation and operation of all its activities and events. The challenge is to create pavilions and spaces that are examples of a bold circular thinking that offer a lasting sustainability legacy. The goal is to eliminate waste, circulate materials and regenerate natural systems proving that architecture and our built environment can coexist harmoniously with our planet.