The timber-framed structure designed by Marlon Blackwell Architects for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale will be reconstructed at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, in late 2027. Originally installed in the Giardini as part of PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, the structure will return in a new setting as a freestanding pavilion on the museum's 134-acre campus. Following the close of the Biennale in November 2025, it was dismantled and transported from Venice to Arkansas, where it has remained in storage ahead of its planned reconstruction.
PORCH explored the porch as an architectural space for gathering, exchange, and civic life, considering its continued relevance across different social and cultural contexts in the United States. The exhibition was commissioned by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, DesignConnects, and Crystal Bridges, with Peter MacKeith, Susan Chin, and Rod Bigelow serving as co-commissioners. Alongside the structure, the U.S. Pavilion presented approximately 50 projects selected through an open call, while performances, workshops, readings, and discussions expanded the program beyond the exhibition itself.
The pavilion structure was developed by Marlon Blackwell Architects in collaboration with designers Stephen Burks, Julie Bargmann, and Maura Rockcastle, bringing together architectural, design, and landscape perspectives around the exhibition's central theme. Rather than functioning solely as an architectural object, the porch provided an outdoor setting for the Biennale's public program and was used for gatherings throughout the exhibition. Its reconstruction in Arkansas will allow the structure to continue serving a public function beyond its original presentation in Venice.
At Crystal Bridges, the pavilion will be installed within a 134-acre campus that combines museum buildings with native Ozark forest, streams, ponds, and more than five miles of walking trails. The museum has described its grounds as an integral part of the visitor experience, with architecture and landscape connected through paths, outdoor spaces, and works of art.
The reconstruction comes as Crystal Bridges continues to expand and adapt its campus. Earlier this year, the museum completed a 114,000-square-foot addition designed by Safdie Architects, extending the original 2011 building with new galleries, educational facilities, public gathering spaces, and connections to the surrounding landscape. Coen+Partners led the landscape design, incorporating native planting, limestone, restored stream edges, and new outdoor areas. The planned reconstruction of PORCH will add another freestanding structure to this evolving architectural and landscape setting.
In other recent news, several national pavilions have begun announcing their curators and exhibition proposals for the 2027 Venice Architecture Biennale. Luxembourg will present Excess! On the Overconsumption of Living Space, curated by Céline Zimmer, Bùi Quý Sơn, and Paul-Antoine Lucas of Exutoire, exploring the unequal distribution and overconsumption of living space. Germany will present CONVIVERE — A Repertoire of Living Together, curated by Kawahara Krause Architects, Andres Lepik, and Olga Cobuscean, focusing on shared spaces within housing as sites of everyday coexistence. Türkiye will present Spolia Futures, curated by ba-be commons, which examines spolia, the reuse of architectural elements, as an evolving architectural practice.
