Germany's contribution to the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 exposes visitors physically and psychologically to the future urban climate: a STRESSTEST that makes the need for immediate action palpable. The exhibition takes a clear stance: climate change is an unstoppable reality, and the measures taken so far are inadequate. It presents a scenario in which climate change manifests globally through rising temperatures, extreme weather, and sea level rise, with its effects directly felt at a local level: urban spaces suffering from heat stress. Curators Nicola Borgmann, Elisabeth Endres, Gabriele G. Kiefer, and Daniele Santucci have designed an exhibition to highlight the impacts of global warming on urban life in an urgent call to action, emphasizing that this reality threatens urban social life, productivity, and the health and survival of citizens.
The overheating of urban areas already has life-threatening consequences and is set to surpass the climate goals defined by political decision-makers. While exposing this reality, the German Pavilion curators pose a critical question: How will humans, animals, plants, and infrastructures withstand these rapidly accelerating developments? The exhibition takes an urgent tone, warning that some European cities could become uninhabitable within a few decades. Despite this imminent threat, climate-adapted urban planning is still not being prioritized. The "STRESSTEST" exhibition aims to make this future urban climate both physically and psychologically tangible, asserting that architecture and landscape architecture can and must play a crucial role in creating climate-resilient cities.
To this end, the exhibition in the German Pavilion is divided into two thematic areas: STRESS and DE-STRESS. In the STRESS rooms, visitors experience extreme urban heat firsthand, gaining a direct understanding of the complex interactions and effects of a warming climate. The DE-STRESS rooms, by contrast, offer a space for relaxation and present solutions where architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning are no longer viewed solely as functional or aesthetic disciplines but as integral components of a holistic, climate-resilient system. The installation is based on data and integrated urban development models. Using digital visualizations of real urban regions, the exhibition depicts climate change scenarios and their impact on urban spaces. Artist Christoph Brech has also created a site-specific animated installation for the Pavilion, referencing the uncertainties and dynamics of a changing climate.
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Climate-Responsive Temporary Pavilions: Exploring 4 Ephemeral Structures across EuropeThe German exhibition responds to Carlo Ratti's curatorial theme, "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.", by addressing the built environment as the largest contributor to global CO₂ emissions. "STRESSTEST" is a collaborative effort to develop substantial, quickly implementable, and effective solutions and demonstrate that green infrastructure, new technologies, and interdisciplinary collaboration are key levers for making cities more resilient, healthier, and more livable. These strategies and solutions for resilient urban planning are documented in the exhibition catalog, featuring essays by Luisa Amann, Maria Auböck, bauchplan ).(, Silvia C. Benedito, Carsten Dierkes, Almut Grüntuch-Ernst, Andreas Kipar, Klaus K. Loenhart, Bernhard Maaz, Andreas Matzarakis, Burkert Pieske, and Boris Schröder-Esselbach. The Pavilion's entire operation is powered by solar energy, and all materials used should have predefined subsequent applications.
Other pavilions this year focus on themes related to sustainability and climate change. In response to future scenarios for architecture as both a discipline and a field of knowledge, the Spanish Pavilion explores strategies for the decarbonization of architecture in Spain, while France constructed a temporary building using reused materials to spark conversations about repurposing existing structures. Other countries approached sustainability from different perspectives, such as Switzerland, examinng gender inequality, or Ireland, which reflecting on the role of architecture in democratic exchange. All exhibitions are open to the public, with a full events schedule running from May 10 to November 23, 2025.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on February 27, 2025, and updated on July 29, 2025, to include new photographs of the space.
