Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: the ultimate guide

The time for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 launch in spring is almost upon us - and excitement has been ramping up in the architecture circles. This year's appointed curator, architect Carlo Ratti, and the team behind the world's largest architecture festival have been working non-stop towards the public opening on the 10th of May. As per past years, the main show's content specifics are largely under embargo, leading to much speculation in the architecture world as to its overall mood and narratives. However, a recent announcement has now revealed the list of participants in the main show and national participation groups, starting to paint a picture as to what to expect.

'The role of the biennale is to look at different challenges. Lesley's was a very important one,' said Ratti at the first global press conference around the event, acknowledging the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale's influential theme by 2024 RIBA Gold Medal winner Lesley Lokko – and hinting at the future and the next steps in the grand exhibition's global explorations.

Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 overall theme: ‘Intelligens’

La Biennale di Venezia 2025 will focus on the topic of 'Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective.' Ratti said of his theme: 'The title of the International Architecture Exhibition is usually announced both in English and in Italian. In 2025 it will be condensed into a single word for both languages via the common Latin precedent: intelligens. The title “Intelligens” is linked to the modern term “intelligence”, but it also evokes a wider set of associated meanings. In fact, the final syllable “gens” is Latin for “people”. A new, fictional root emerges, suggesting a future of intelligence that is inclusive, multiple, and imaginative beyond today’s limiting focus on AI.'

Exploring his topic through four sections, Ratti announced the sub-themes of Transdisciplinarity, Living Lab, Space For Ideas, and Circularity Protocol as key pillars in the way he conceived the main show. In an interview recently he revealed that the natural world, its wisdom and engineering are key influences in his work - and bridging natural and artificial is an important element that is missing in architecture today. 'People talk a lot about biomimicry, which is when you're copying nature, but here, it's more than copying nature per se. It is about copying the logic of nature,' he said.

Collaboration across disciplines and fields of human knowledge is also highly important and an area Ratti is keen to tap into in his show. He explained: 'I think we need to work more collaboratively. I always try to have teams of different disciplines working together. I call this approach the 'choral' architect.'

Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: main show

'We would like the biennale to be a dynamic lab,' said Ratti at a press conference in February outlining his key goals, themes and participants of the main show. Bringing together diverse teams and pairing seemingly disparate disciplines will help inspire unexpected and useful results, according to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 curator. 'Adaptation depends on inclusivity and collaboration and this is what I am experimenting with here,' he continued.

Case studies exhibited and project teams span the globe - even reaching one examining outer space. Climate change and sustainable architecture action will feature prominently in the various narrative threads. AI also makes an appearance, as part of the main show is a dialogue between creatives and artificial intelligence.

Circularity and openness

Last year, Ratti also launched a circular economy manifesto for this Venice Architecture Biennale - inviting participants to tackle core challenges in exhibition design, in order to produce a truly circular festival. This goal is outlined in the manifesto, which was developed with guidance from Arup and input from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The team wrote at the time: 'Our goal is to demonstrate that architecture and the built environment can coexist harmoniously with our planet, by eliminating waste, circulating materials and regenerating natural systems. We commit to creating pavilions and spaces that are not just temporary showcases but offer examples of bold circular thinking and create lasting legacies.'

With all this in mind, the curator put an open call for proposals, for the first time ever in the festival's long history, 'no matter how audacious,' from both architects and non-architects. In fact, trans-disciplinarity seems to be the name of the game, with Ratti inviting the global community of practitioners, scientists, scholars, activists, and others to help him create a diverse, creative biennale. 'It was both thrilling and daunting. We got flooded with thousands of emails but at the same time, we were able to find voices in parts of the planet who we would have never discovered without this open call,' Ratti says.

Main show participants: Arsenale and beyond

The Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 will showcase contributions from 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.

The exhibitors include names such as Lina Ghotmeh Architecture, Liam Young, Tosin Oshinowo, Bjarke Ingels Group, Winy Maas, Aaron Betsky, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, MAD Architects, Philip Youan, Boonserm Premthada, Olalekan Jeyifous, Matteo Thun & Partners, Alejandro Aravena, EcoLogicStudio, Counterspace/Sumayya Vally, Studio Zhu Pei, Marina Tabassum Architects, 3XN, Architectural Association/Ingrid Schroeder, 3XN, Material Cultures, Studio Gang, Transsolar, Patricia Urquiola, and Mass Design Group.

As the Central Pavilion at Giardini, which traditionally hosts part of the curator's show, is currently closed and under refurbishment, part of the main exhibition will be spread across Venice, occupying different sites and engaging creatively with the entire city. '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 imperilled 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 neighbourhoods,' Ratti explains.

Special Projects at the Biennale

Two main special projects will accompany the main show and national participations. One is titled Margherissima and will be exhibited inside the Austrian armoury (Polveriera austriaca), Forte Marghera in Mestre. It is a scheme focusing on its wider area and contributors include Nigel Coates, Michael Kevern, Guan Lee, John Maybury and Jan Bunge.

The second is the Biennale's ninth collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London on the Applied Arts Pavilion Special Project. This will this year be titled On Storage. Curated by Brendan Cormier in collaboration with Diller, Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), it will explore the global architecture of storage.

Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: National Participations

Situated at their namesake pavilion across the Giardini park, as well as selected sites across Venice, the national participations for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 is as rich and far-reaching as ever. Brand new exhibitors include the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, and Togo. Scroll down for more; our coverage will evolve as National Pavilions reveal plans for their shows in the next few weeks.

Belgian Pavilion

Titled 'Building Biospheres', this year's Belgian contribution is curated by he team of Bas Smets and Stefano Mancuso. Commissioned by the Flanders Architecture Institute, the display is set to focus on the natural world and what it can offer us through its 'plant intelligence.' 'For too long, landscape has served as a backdrop for architecture. If we are to build a future that is truly sustainable, then natural intelligence must become the agent, shaping the way we live together. We must design with our biosphere, not against it, says Dennis Pohl, director of the institute.

Brazilian Pavilion

With their pavilion titled (RE)INVENTION, the Brazilians are zooming in on the communities and populations of the Amazon. Curated by the architects Luciana Saboia, Matheus Seco, and Eder Alencar, of the Plano Coletivo group, the exhibit looks at ancestral infrastructure in the region. 'Today, we know that the ancestral peoples of the Amazon were organized in much larger populations than previously thought. The region’s forests are largely the direct result of human action, the fruit of a balanced occupation and careful management of the vegetation, in contrast to the model that prevails in the Amazon today, which often reduces the landscape to a scenario of devastation.' says Seco.

Danish Pavilion

Curated by architect Søren Pihlmann, the Danish pavilion addresses its offering as a construction site. Collaborating with experts from the Royal Danish Academy, the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and ETH Zurich, the architect intends to create 1:1 builds discussing and displaying hyper local construction methods and materials. 'We've already created everything we need. That's why we must be better at understanding and finding value in what already exists,' he says.

Dutch Pavilion

'How can architecture resist exclusionary social norms to create spaces that nurture different ways of coexisting in everyday life?' ask the Dutch. Their answer is SIDELINED, curated by Amanda Pinatih, Curator of Design & Contemporary Art at the Stedelijk Museum, and social designer Gabriel Fontana. The pavilion proposes an alternative sports bar that continues Fontana’s 'investigation of social dynamics through the lens of sport.'

Irish Pavilion

Appointing Cotter & Naessens Architects as the curators of the Irish Pavilion, the country presents in its 2025 showcase a an interdisciplinary collaboration between the architecture team, sound artist David Stalling, poet Michelle Delea, and curator Luke Naessens. The resulting multisensory installation was inspired 'by the innovative political model of the Citizens’ Assembly, introduced by the Irish government in 2016,' the team writes.

Luxembourg Pavilion

Luxembourg's Sonic Investigation aims to shift the focus from the visual to the aural. The pavilion nods to John Cage’s silent song 4’33’’ and is curated by a team composed by Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch and Alice Loumeau, who together celebrate through their displays the multisensorial aspects of architecture.

Finnish Pavilion

Curators Ella Kaira and Matti Jänkälä have joined forces to curate the Finnish pavilion. The space, in a building by modernist architecture master Alvar Aalto and Elissa Aalto, celebrates the Architecture of Stewardship - all the different workers and collaborators that are involved in making a building happen. 'From design contributions by architectural workers and engineers to the efforts of construction workers, restoration architects, maintenance staff and cleaners,' they all play a vital role in the life of a building, the team says.

Qatar Pavilion

While traditionally Qatar has not had a dedicated space in the Giardini, this year the country has announced its plans to build one on site. Its display this year, set on the grounds of where the future pavilion will lie, will offer a taste of what's to come. The site will be 'activated' with an installation, Community Centre, by Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari.

Saudi Arabia Pavilion

For its fourth-ever participation at the biennale of architecture, Saudi Arabia presents work by Riyadh-based practice Syn Architects, led by Sara Alissa and Nojoud Alsudairi. Reflecting contemporary practice in the country, the installation will be titled The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection, and is curated by Beatrice Leanza, assisted by Sara Almutlaq.

Swiss Pavilion

Co-curators Elena Chiavi, Kathrin Füglister, Amy Perkins, Axelle Stiefel and Myriam Uzor of collaborative group Annex ask for their 2025 contribution: 'What if Lisbeth Sachs had designed the Swiss Pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale di Venezia instead of Bruno Giacometti?' The display revisits an old, temporary work by Sachs (1914-2002), who was one of the country's first female architects.

UAE pavilion

The UAE's participation is titled 'Pressure Cooker.' The installation is curated by Emirati architect and Assistant Professor at the College of Arts and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University and Co-founder of Holesum Studio Azza Aboualam, who looks at the country's food growing infrastructure. Looking at local communities and lots of archival research, the contribution explores challenges arising from issues of food security.

USA Pavilion

The US Pavilion's exhibition, PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, draws on and celebrates the ubiquitous in the country and beloved architecture feature: the humble porch. 'The exhibitor contributions to the U.S. Pavilion, achieved through the Open Call, lie at the heart of the collective PORCH project,” said Peter MacKeith, Dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, University of Arkansas, who is one of the commissioning bodies. 'Framed by the constructions and installations of our design team, the exhibitor contributions will animate an understanding of contemporary architecture and design in the United States as a source of civic engagement and community building, a resource for social and environmental resiliency and as fundamentally committed to the greater good of society.'

Nordic Pavilion

The Nordic countries join forces once more contributing to the biennale this year with Industry Muscle - a body of work that 'examines architecture using the trans body as a lens, establishing a dialogue with Sverre Fehn’s Nordic Countries Pavilion.' Main exhibitor Teo Ala-Ruona, whose work combines performance art, theatre, and choreography, leads the way, bringing along a variety of different collaborators.

UK Pavilion

Co-curated by Nairobi based architecture studio Cave Bureau co-founders Kabage Karanja and Stella Mutegi with writer and curator Owen Hopkins and Queen Mary University professor Kathryn Yusoff, the UK pavilion is this year a collaboration between Britain and Kenya. Part of the British Council's 2025 UK-Kenya Season of Culture, the contribution will focus on 'architecture of repair.'

Latvia Pavilion

In their national pavilion, the Latvians are exploring what it means to live on 'NATO's external border in times of geopolitical conflict.' Curated by Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby, and designed by Sampling and Nomad architects, the installation looks at both spatial and social aspects of this context - and what it signifies for the country and its neighbours.

German Pavilion

Germany looks at its pavilion as a call to urgent action. The installation, curated by Nicola Borgmann, Elisabeth Endres, Gabriele G. Kiefer and Daniele Santucci, is an examination of what climate change does to urban life and a city's ecosystems. Titled 'Stresstest', the display zooms in on the rising heat levels in our urban spaces. 'This endangers not only the social life and productivity of the city, but also the health and survival of its residents. Currently, the urban population is already exposed to higher risks of dehydration and cardiovascular diseases; the number of heat deaths is growing,' writes the team.

Uzbekistan Pavilion

Architecture studio GRACE coordinates this year's pavilion of Uzbekistan and reflects on the country's modernist legacy. A focus on the The Sun Institute of Material Science, which is also known as the Sun Heliocomplex and was built in 1987 near Tashkent, makes a case study for an installation that looks at narratives of sustainability, heritage and preservation, and the duality of old and new.

Collateral events

As always a rich programme of collateral and affiliated events will also be launched throughout Venice and the surrounding islands of the archipelago during the biennale. This year, they include from sustainable architecture-driven exhibitions and discussions, to previews of some of the field's most anticipated openings from later this year. The below list is comprehensive as is it rich; there's something from everyone.

• Catalonia in Venice_Water Parliaments: Projective Ecosocial Architectures, organised by the Institut Ramon Llull
• Deep Surfaces. Architecture to enhance the visitor experience of UNESCO sites organised by UNESCO
• Intelligens. Talent: EUmies Awards. Young Talent 2025, organised by Fundació Mies van der Rohe
• NON-Belief: Taiwan Intelligens of Precarity, organised by the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts
• Parallel Worlds, Exhibition from Macao, China, organised by The Macao Museum of Art, under The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government
• Projecting Future Heritage: A Hong Kong Archive, organised by The Hong Kong Institute of Architects Biennale Foundation and Hong Kong Arts Development Council
• Rooted Transience: AlMusalla Prize 2025, organised by Diriyah Biennale Foundation
• The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel, organised by Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
• The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology, organised by Palazzo Diedo - Berggruen Arts & Culture
• The SKYWALK by Platform Earth, organised by PLATFORM EARTH
• unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION, organised by The Virginia Tech Honors College

The blaces, dates and tickets

The Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 will be open to the public between 10 May and 23 November 2025, including two vernissage days on the 8 and 9 May. The shows will be, as always, split between Venice's famed Arsenale and Giardini locations, with the former focused on Ratti's main showcase and the latter containing the always-rich and layered national participations in their respective, dedicated pavilions. Tickets for the main sites are available at the entrance and opening hours are 11 am - 7 pm (last admission 6:45 pm), with the venue closed on Mondays (except 12 May and 17 November).

As always more events are spread across Venice - including both independent programmes and collateral events, and national participations who may not be accommodated in the Giardini site.

The Biennale College Architettura, which launched in 2023, is also returning in 2025 for its second iteration as part of the festival's education arm. Ratti has invited students, graduate students and emerging practitioners under the age of 30 to take part and 'submit projects that employ natural, artificial, and collective intelligence to combat the climate crisis'.

The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale will run 10 May till 23 November 2025

labiennale.org