La Biennale di Venezia has unveiled the renovated Central Pavilion at the Giardini, completing a comprehensive intervention delivered between December 2024 and March 2026 as part of a broader national program to enhance cultural infrastructure. Funded by the Italian Ministry of Culture under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and its complementary investment program (PNC), the project contributes to the development of a permanent hub for cultural production and exchange in Venice. The works form part of a wider initiative involving multiple sites associated with the Biennale, including the Giardini, the Arsenale, and other locations across the city, developed in coordination with local authorities and heritage institutions.
Rather than approaching the Pavilion as a conventional restoration, the project reconsiders the building as a layered architectural structure shaped by successive transformations. The intervention reorganizes these historical strata through a spatial strategy that prioritizes clarity, continuity, and flexibility, aligning the building with contemporary exhibition requirements. At the center of the new layout, Sala Chini operates as a primary distribution space, structuring access to a sequence of galleries conceived as neutral environments capable of accommodating a wide range of curatorial formats, while a perimeter of service functions, such as a café, bookshop, and educational spaces, remains clearly separated from the exhibition circuit.
The project adopts a critical approach to the building's historical layers, combining selective preservation with targeted removal to establish a coherent architectural identity. Elements of particular significance have been restored and reintegrated, including the window systems originally designed by Carlo Scarpa, while Sala Brenno del Giudice has been reconfigured in reference to its 1928 spatial configuration. Openings toward the canal-facing terrace have also been reinstated, strengthening the relationship between the Pavilion and its surrounding landscape. Rather than pursuing a conventional restoration, the intervention frames reuse as a design process that interprets and reorganizes the building's historical phases in response to contemporary exhibition requirements.
New interventions extend the building's spatial and environmental capacity while maintaining a measured architectural language. Two rooftop structures, inspired by traditional Venetian altane, have been introduced in correspondence with the café and multipurpose areas, establishing elevated points of interaction with the Giardini landscape. Constructed from charred laminated wood and X-LAM panels, these additions are conceived as lightweight and reversible elements that complement, rather than compete with, the existing masonry volume.
The project also integrates architectural, structural, and environmental systems into a unified framework, in which technical infrastructure is fully embedded within walls and roofing systems to preserve the clarity of the interior spaces. New skylights incorporating photovoltaic and diffusing glass provide consistent natural lighting while contributing to energy performance, supported by operable elements that enable natural ventilation and adaptable shading. These strategies reflect a broader emphasis on sustainability, material efficiency, and environmental control, aligning the Pavilion with contemporary standards for exhibition environments.
The renovation was overseen by the Special Projects Department of La Biennale di Venezia, directed by architect Arianna Laurenzi, with engineer Cristiano Frizzele acting as Single Procedure Manager. The architectural design was developed by Labics, led by Maria Claudia Clemente and Francesco Isidori, in collaboration with architect Fabio Fumagalli, while BUROMILAN – Milan Ingegneria S.p.A. led structural design, safety coordination, and overall project management. MEP engineering and fire prevention were handled by ia2 Studio, and landscape design was developed by Stefano Olivari, with construction carried out by Setten Genesio S.p.A.
The Giardini della Biennale, located on the eastern edge of Venice, has hosted international exhibitions since 1895 and today includes a collection of national pavilions within a landscaped setting originally developed in the early nineteenth century to a plan by Gian Antonio Selva. The Central Pavilion, initially built between 1894 and 1895 as the Palazzo Pro Arte, has evolved through multiple interventions over the twentieth century, including contributions by figures such as Galileo Chini and Guido Cirilli. With the shift toward a curator-led exhibition model at the end of the century, the building assumed its current role as the primary venue for the Biennale's central exhibition. Following its reopening, the Pavilion will host In Minor Keys, curated by Koyo Kouoh, as part of Biennale Arte 2026. Opening to the public on May 9 and running through November 22, 2026, the exhibition will mark the first use of the renewed spaces, positioning the Central Pavilion once again at the core of the Biennale's exhibition framework.
The Central Pavilion remained closed during the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti, which marked the most visited edition of the exhibition to date. As the Biennale returns to its art-focused cycle in 2026, the next International Architecture Exhibition is scheduled to open in May 2027, with La Biennale di Venezia appointing Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, founders of Amateur Architecture Studio and recognized for a practice grounded in craftsmanship, material reuse, and a sustained engagement with local building traditions, as curators of its 20th edition.
