La Biennale di Veneziahas inaugurated the new home of its Historical Archive – International Centre for Research on Contemporary Arts at the Arsenale, relocating the institution's archival collections and research activities to a restored complex within one of its principal exhibition sites. The opening introduces a new permanent headquarters for the archive, bringing together facilities for conservation, research, public consultation, and cultural programming within the historic Arsenale. To mark the occasion, La Biennale organized a three-day program of performances, lectures, conversations, and public visits, highlighting the archive's role within the institution's broader ecosystem of exhibitions, festivals, and educational initiatives.
In December 2024, art curator Koyo Kouoh became the first African woman selected to curate the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. She proposed an introspective and sensitive approach to the exhibition, shaped by themes of grief, memory, spirituality, and global exhaustion. Following her premature passing in May 2025, the Biennale decided to continue with the same curatorial project, titled In Minor Keys. Wolff Architects was appointed by Kouoh in early 2025 to realize the exhibition design and scenography, focused on "the transformative spatial power of the threshold as a portal to alternative comprehension and experiences." The event was inaugurated on Saturday, May 9, and will run until Sunday, November 22, 2026, across the Giardini della Biennale, the Arsenale di Venezia, and other locations throughout Venice.
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.
Giardino delle Sculture / Carlo Scarpa. Image by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra [Flickr under license CC BY-NC 2.0]
When we think of Venice, familiar images come to mind: Piazza San Marco, winding canals, and the reflection of Byzantine domes on still waters. Few, however, imagine that among those reflections lies a discreet chapter of Italian modernity — the architecture of Carlo Scarpa.
The KoreanPavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia marks its 30th anniversary with "Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion," an exhibition commissioned by Arts Council Korea (ARKO) and curated by Curating Architecture Collective (CAC), composed of Chung Dahyoung, Kim Heejung, and Jung Sungkyu. Bringing together architects and artists Kim Hyunjong, Heechan Park, Young Yena, and Lee Dammy, the exhibition critically revisits the pavilion as both a physical structure and a symbolic space, tracing its trajectory since its completion in 1995 while speculating on its possible futures.
Nestled amongst the plethora of grandiose and carefully crafted national pavilions in the Giardini della Biennale in the Italian city of Venice is one pavilion by the city's perhaps most well-known modern architect. Sited between the pavilions of Russia and Switzerland is the VenezuelaPavilion, by architect Carlo Scarpa. In many ways, the structure typifies the design approach of its architect but has its idiosyncrasies. Built for Europe's most important biennial art exhibition, it is a member of a cohort of Modernist pavilions that came after the earlier, more classicist pavilions. This is its story.
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale presents Lares and Penates: On Building a Sense of Security in Architecture, an exhibition that explores how architecture continues to function as a form of protection in an age marked by uncertainty. Framed as an anthropological investigation, the project examines the emotional and rational dimensions of building practices. The exhibition is developed by a multidisciplinary team including curator and art historian Aleksandra Kędziorek, architect Maciej Siuda, and artists Krzysztof Maniak and Katarzyna Przezwańska. Rather than focusing on architecture from the designer's perspective, the team investigates how individuals inhabit space and construct a sense of safety, responding to deep-seated fears, desires, and needs.
Søren Pihlmann is the curator of the Danish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. The exhibition, commissioned by the Danish Architecture Center, is titled Build of Site, and focuses on exploring sustainable architectural practices through the lens of reuse and resourcefulness. Pihlmann's proposal transforms the existing Danish Pavilion, located within a historic building complex in the Biennale's Giardini, into an active exhibition space for material experimentation. The installation highlights techniques that incorporate recycled and bio-based elements. The Pavilion offers visitors the opportunity to observe ongoing experimental processes, witnessing how building resources are creatively reimagined for new uses. In this on-site interview, ArchDaily editors spoke with the curator about the ideas behind the project and the challenges its execution represents.
The 19th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale officially opened to the public on May 10, becoming a significant international platform for exploring the current state of global architecture and sparking conversations about the challenges the discipline faces today—both shared and specific to each territory. This year’s theme, "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective," proposed by general curator and Italian architect Carlo Ratti, invites reflection on architecture’s interconnection with other fields—such as art, artificial intelligence, and technology—while also emphasizing the importance of territories, landscapes, and, above all, the people who collectively shape our built environment.
Qatar has announced that architect Lina Ghotmeh, founder and principal of the Paris-based studio Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture, has been selected to design its permanent national pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale, the historic venue of La Biennale di Venezia since 1895. The new building will be on a site adjacent to the Book Pavilion and commissioned by H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa on behalf of the State of Qatar. With this addition, Qatar becomes one of only 31 countries with a permanent pavilion in the Giardini, joining a select group of nations with dedicated exhibition spaces. Only two new national pavilions have been inaugurated there in the past 50 years: Australia in 1988 and the Republic of Korea in 1996. Lina Ghotmeh's new Qatar Pavilion will serve as a lasting platform for showcasing the country's artistic and architectural contributions, with rotating exhibitions presented during each edition of the Biennale.
The 2025 edition of the VeniceArchitecture Biennale is hosting a total of 65 National Pavilions. Among them, four countries, Azerbaijan, Oman, Qatar, and Togo, will be participating for the first time. The exhibition will unfold across three main locations: 26 pavilions at the Giardini, 22 at the Arsenale, and 15 spread throughout Venice's city center. The exhibition will bring together over 750 participants, forming interdisciplinary and multi-generational teams, and is anticipated to be the largest in the Biennale's history.
Built on a cluster of 118 small islands in the shallow Venetian Lagoon, the city of Venice, Italy, has captivated the imagination of architects and tourists alike. The area has been inhabited since ancient times, becoming a major financial and maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as proven through the rich architecture that characterizes the city to this day. With influences from the Byzantine, Gothic, and Renaissance styles, the city represents a palimpsest of architectural narratives, overlapping and influencing each other. In recent years, Venice has become a major attraction for architects drawn to the La Biennale di Venezia, the most important Architectural Exhibition featuring national pavilions, exhibitions, and events to explore new concepts and architectural innovations.
Beyond the Biennale, Venice itself is an open-air museum for architecture lovers. While the city is best known for its historical buildings, Modernist and contemporary interventions add a new layer of interest, with many contemporary architects working with the historical fabric, like OMA's intervention and rehabilitation of Fondaco dei Tedeschi, or David Chipperfield's renovation of Procuratie Vecchie, one of the buildings that define Piazza San Marco. In addition to what the city has to offer, the site of the Venice Biennale is also marked by interventions by famous architects such as Carlo Scarpa, Sverre Fehn, and Alvar Aalto, made permanent due to their outstanding qualities.
During a live presentation for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, curator Carlo Ratti offered a glimpse into the programming of this year's edition. The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale will include 66 National Pavilions, with 4 countries represented for the first time: the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sultanate of Oman, Qatar, and Togo. The exhibition, divided between the Giardini (26), at the Arsenale (22) and in the city center of Venice (15), explores the theme of "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective", gathering over 750 participants, including individuals and organizations forming interdisciplinary and multigenerational teams. According to the numbers released, this year's edition is shaping up to become the largest Architecture Biennale held in Venice.
The Unfolding Pavilion is a recurring exhibition and editorial project by Daniel Tudor Munteanu and Davide Tommaso Ferrando that aims to highlight previously inaccessible but architecturally significant spaces. Now in its fourth edition, the exhibition is dedicated to the Giardini della Biennale, the Venetian garden that became the main location for one of the most important architecture exhibitions worldwide, the Venice Biennale. Through a series of site-specific interventions and photographs by Laurian Ghinițoiu, the Unfolding Pavilion #OPENGIARDINI set out to explore the paradoxical state of this public space that is not publicly accessible.
Taking a broader perspective on architecture, the exhibition shifts its focus towards the discipline rather than just the profession. It’s not “about building buildings per se”, explains the curator to ArchDaily. Instead, it seeks to question our conventional understanding of architecture, and with that, architectural exhibitions. The 2023 Biennale is a laboratory in every sense of the word, a global platform of experimentation, and a space to explore new ideas in the absence of spaces that allow us to do so. "It borrows its structure and format from art exhibitions, but it differs from art in critical ways which often go unnoticed", states Lesley Lokko in her initial statement.
