Venice Architecture Biennale 2027: The Latest Architecture and News

Austria has announced Koncesija / Konzession / Concession(e) as its contribution to the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by architects Adna Babahmetović and Ajna Babahmetović together with curator Sebastian Höglinger, the project proposes temporarily granting the Austrian Pavilion to Bosnia and Herzegovina through a cooperative concession. Selected through Austria's open competition process, the pavilion examines questions of national representation, diplomacy, and architectural exchange by responding to the absence of a Bosnian national pavilion in the Giardini, where the Biennale's historic national pavilions are located.

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From projects and institutions that reinforce the relationship between art and architecture to initiatives seeking new approaches to persistent urban and ecological challenges, this week's developments reflect a broader effort to reconsider established frameworks and expand the role of design in contemporary society. Whether through adaptive reuse, policy innovation, artistic experimentation, or critical research, architects and cultural organizations are exploring how existing systems can be transformed to address emerging realities. These questions resonate across new architectural projects that translate environmental conditions and civic aspirations into built form. In Chicago, the completion of the Obama Presidential Center positions architecture as a vehicle for public memory, while in Albania, OODA's Lighthouse reinterprets local landscapes and traditions through a tower overlooking the Adriatic coast. Meanwhile, Heatherwick Studio's proposed AlUla Manara visitor centre responds to the conditions of Saudi Arabia's desert landscape, combining scientific research and tourism within a destination dedicated to observing the night sky.

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Architect and urbanist Paola Viganò has been selected by Pro Helvetia to curate the Swiss Pavilion at the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Chosen following a unanimous recommendation from the selection jury, Viganò's proposal explores water as a territorial, ecological, and political condition, taking Switzerland's role as "Europe's water tower" as its conceptual point of departure. Developed with StudioPaolaViganò and an interdisciplinary team, the project examines water not only as a resource but also as a subject, a legal entity, and a force that shapes landscapes, infrastructures, and the built environment.

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The Icelandic Pavilion at the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia will present SOAK: Rituals of Collective Belonging, an exhibition examining Iceland's bathing culture through the lens of architecture, public space, and social interaction. Commissioned by Halla Helgadóttir, Iceland Design and Architecture, the project is curated by Marcos Zotes, partner at Basalt Architects, and developed through a multidisciplinary collaboration between Basalt Architects, design studio Gagarin, and artist Rán Flygenring. SOAK marks the second Icelandic participation in the Architecture Biennale selected through an open call process, following Lavaforming by s.ap architects, which represented Iceland at the 2025 edition.

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This week's stories reveal a growing focus on reconnecting design with physical reality, whether through construction, landscape, public space, or collective participation. From the curatorial direction of the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale 2027 to internationally recognized projects addressing flood resilience, affordable housing, and ecological restoration, many of the week's discussions challenged architecture's increasing detachment from material, environmental, and social conditions. At the same time, major cultural interventions, temporary structures, and public forums explored how institutions and civic spaces can become more accessible, adaptable, and engaged with everyday urban life.

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Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, curators of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, have unveiled the first details of the highly anticipated 2027 edition. Titled "Do Architecture - For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality," the exhibition will take place from May 8 to November 21, 2027, across the Giardini, the Arsenale, and throughout Venice.

The curatorial direction reflects many of the ideas developed through the work of Amateur Architecture Studio, founded by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu in 1997. Their projects have consistently explored the reuse of salvaged materials, regional construction techniques, and the continuity between historic and contemporary forms of building. Across both urban and rural contexts, the studio's work often emphasizes craft traditions, collective memory, and the spatial qualities embedded within everyday environments.

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Lu Wenyu—co-founder of Amateur Architecture Studio with Pritzker laureate Wang Shu—has shaped many of the practice's most emblematic works across China, including the Ningbo History Museum and the Xiangshan Campus of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Often working outside the spotlight, her leadership is unmistakable in the discipline of execution and the roles she has assumed: in 2003, together with Wang Shu, she established the Architecture Department at the China Academy of Art, where she also serves as Director of the Sustainable Construction Center. Her practice and teaching form a reciprocal loop: research conducted in studios at the China Academy of Art continually folds back into construction strategies on site, while lessons learned in the field return to the classroom as material intelligence rather than abstract theory.

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Born in 1963 in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, architect Wang Shu has dedicated his career to defining a contemporary approach to building that is deeply rooted in China's cultural and material history. In 2012, he was recognized with the Pritzker Prize, becoming the first Chinese citizen to receive the distinction. The award jury acknowledged his body of work "for the exceptional nature and quality of his executed work, and also for his ongoing commitment to pursuing an uncompromising, responsible architecture arising from a sense of specific culture and place." In 2027, along with his wife Lu Wenyu, Wang Shu will be a curator for the Venice Architecture Biennale.

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La Biennale di Venezia has announced that architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu will curate the 20th International Architecture Exhibition, opening in May 2027. Founders of Amateur Architecture Studio and leading voices in contemporary practice, the duo is known for an approach rooted in craftsmanship, material reuse, and deep engagement with place. Their appointment brings renewed attention to vernacular knowledge, construction cultures, and the social realities shaping architecture today.

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