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.
Interview: The Latest Architecture and News
"Helping the Existing to Reconfigure Itself": In Conversation with Søren Pihlmann, Curator of the Danish Pavilion
Between Housing Demand and Environmental Goals: Alejandro Aravena on Incremental Solutions and Net-Zero Concrete
During the Time Space Existence exhibition, organized by the European Cultural Centre in Venice, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alejandro Aravena and his firm ELEMENTAL unveiled a full-scale prototype for a new approach in incremental housing solutions. Titled the USB Core, standing for Basic Services Unit housing prototype, this proposal aims to demonstrate how efficient construction can provide all the essential housing components in a minimal space. The prototype is also the result of a collaboration between the architecture office and concrete manufacturer and researcher Holcim, and is built out of a newly developed type of net-zero concrete mix. It also incorporates fully recycled aggregates, in alignment with circular economy principles. The collaboration aims to demonstrate a more environmentally conscious yet cost-effective way of providing essential services to at-risk communities without harming the planet.
While on site in Venice, ArchDaily's managing editor Maria-Cristina Florian had the chance to sit down with Alejandro Aravena and discuss the implications of this collaboration, the urgent need for housing, and the role of the architect as the coordinator of a process involving many actors.
"It's the Moment to Open Up the Practice": In Conversation with Andrea Faraguna, Curator of the Bahrain Pavilion
Architect Andrea Faraguna is the curator of the Kingdom of Bahrain's national pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale. The exhibition, titled Heatwave, is a site-specific installation that explores passive cooling strategies for public spaces, inspired by Bahrain's traditional architecture and reimagined through contemporary approaches. Its technical response to the global challenge of rising urban temperatures was recognized by the Biennale's international jury, which awarded it this year's Golden Lion for Best National Participation. While on site in Venice, ArchDaily's editors had a chance to discuss with curator Andrea Faraguna about the context that gave rise to the pavilion, the mechanisms put in place, and his perspective on events such as the Venice Architecture Biennale.
“Architecture is Survival”: In Conversation with Curator Carlo Ratti at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. and curated by Carlo Ratti, has just opened for previews. Following the public opening on Saturday, May 10, the exhibition will run through November 23, 2025. While on site in Venice, ArchDaily had the chance to meet with the curator Carlo Ratti to discuss the first impressions and the main themes of this edition of the Biennale. Featuring 65 national pavilions, 11 collateral events, and over 300 contributions from more than 700 participants, the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale is set to be the largest in the Biennale's history.
"The Logic Is to Let the Content Be Open to the Possibilities": In Conversation with Andrea Caputo, Founder of DROPCITY
DROPCITY is an ambitious and open platform for architecture and design, located in Milan's formerly abandoned Magazzini Raccordati tunnels behind Central Station. Initiated by Andrea Caputo in 2018 and open permanently since 2024, the project reimagines 40,000 square meters into public galleries, production workshops, prototyping labs, and research spaces. The founder of the platform is Andrea Caputo, an Italian architect and researcher. During Milan Design Week 2025, ArchDaily's managing editor, Maria-Cristina Florian, had the chance to sit down with Andrea Caputo to explore his vision and plans for DROPCITY, the platform's connection to the city of Milan and its active architecture scene.
"A Building Can Happen Intuitively After the Drawing Has Emerged:" Steven Holl On His Watercolors Exhibition in Berlin
"Steven Holl – Drawing as Thought," an extensive exhibition of the American architect's original watercolors, is now on view at the Tchoban Foundation Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin. It reveals insights behind some of Holl's key projects and design methodology. The selected drawings range from early unbuilt winning competition entries to some of the latest visions now under construction in Europe and the United States. Occupying the museum's two levels, the show opened on February 6 with a conversation between Holl and the museum's founder and architect Sergei Tchoban, as well as addresses by Kristin Feireiss, the exhibition's curator and founding director of the next-door Aedes Architecture Forum, and Diana Carta, an architect and scholar from Rome. The show, which can be visited until May 4th, is accompanied by a catalog that states, "The work of internationally renowned US architect Steven Holl is distinguished not only by his extraordinary buildings, with a focus on cultural and public structures such as museums, art centers, concert halls, libraries and universities worldwide, but also by his artistic oeuvre, which today comprises more than 50,000 sketches, black-and-white drawings, and watercolors. […] While exhibition visitors will only encounter a small portion of his extensive body of work, each drawing should be explored and studied individually, in keeping with Holl's intent."
"We Were Always Critiquing, We Were Always Throwing Grenades at Things:" In Conversation with Elizabeth Diller
I love putting together lists of original manifesto-like statements by architects perpetually searching for breaking new ground. They provoke us to imagine possibilities we haven't dared to consider before. Questioning conventions should be a critic's primary objective to engage in a conversation with a creative. Otherwise, what is there to discuss, really? That's why speaking with Elizabeth Diller about her studio's work and intentions is like a breath of fresh air, especially nowadays when so many architects are happy to align themselves in pursuing what's expected. In one of our previous conversations, Diller put it bluntly: "We don't take professional boundaries seriously. Every time we are handed a program, we tear it apart and continuously ask new questions. Nothing is fixed." This time, we spoke about Diller Scofidio + Renfro's new monograph, "Architecture, Not Architecture." The book, a project in itself, aims to rethink the very limits of architecture. It reinvents what a book can be in the process. During our 1-1/2-hour discussion over Zoom, which I prefer for its frontal dual recording, she said eagerly, "We were always critiquing; we were always throwing grenades at things."
“The Kind of Architecture I Try to Achieve Is a Rainbow:” In Conversation With Kengo Kuma
In my 2008 interview with Kengo Kuma in Manhattan—the Tokyo-based architect was in town for a lecture at Cooper Union and to oversee the construction of a house renovation in nearby Connecticut— he summarized the intention of his work for me, "The closest image to the kind of architecture I try to achieve is a rainbow." The architect designs his buildings as a chef would prepare a salad or a florist arrange a bouquet of flowers—by carefully selecting ingredients according to their size, shape, and texture. He then tests whether they should touch, overlap, or keep a distance to let the airflow pass through. The process is closer to a trial-and-error scientific experiment rather than an artistic exercise in projecting visionary forms and images. Although his buildings surely look strikingly artistic and utterly breathtaking. They are both precise and loose, primitive and refined, material and transient. The architect's fascination with materiality is startling, and despite having completed many dozens of buildings all over the world over the course of his distinctive career, in our conversation last month over Zoom, Kuma told me, "I stand at the beginning of a long process of material exploration."
“Suddenly, You Step into the Landscape through the House”: In Conversation with Ben Van Berkel of UNStudio
In 1993 a young professional couple with two toddlers and a large suburban lot in Naarden, a town less than half an hour's drive southeast of Amsterdam, approached Ben van Berkel to design an unusual house. They envisioned it as progressive and innovative in every way possible. More than that, they wanted a kind of building that "would be recognized as a reference in terms of renewal of the architectural language." Before settling on the architect, they spoke to several candidates, including Rem Koolhaas. They chose van Berkel who five years earlier, together with his then-wife Caroline Bos co-founded their eponymous practice, because as he told me, "I went to the site and studied it carefully and already had ideas about what I called the four quadrants of the landscape. I knew what kind of house it would be. I could see clearly where different rooms would go, how they would be shaped, and how they would relate to each other." The couple couldn't resist. Yet, there would be no rush on the project which took five years to complete, most time was invested in its design, going through many iterations and refinements, all based on the Möbius loop.
"Architecture as an Interface That Must Adapt:" ecoLogicStudio on Nature-Inspired Urban Design in Louisiana Channel Interview
In a recent interview with Louisiana Channel, ecoLogic Studio discusses a new approach to architecture that explores the relationship between nature and urban design. Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, the studio's lead architects, explain that modern architecture should be rethought to adapt to the changing environment and to serve as a connection between urban life and natural systems. The architects compare the current transformation in the field to the period of the Renaissance, when architecture evolved in response to the needs of society. Today, they argue, there is an opportunity for architects to learn from nature and design urban spaces that are both sustainable and functional.
"You Have to Leave Some Space for the Future People to Interpret": In Conversation with Zhu Pei
Over the last eight years, I have interviewed Beijing-based architect and educator Zhu Pei several times. His persistent quest to combine traditional planning and construction principles with innovative formal and spatial sensibilities intrigues me. His latest projects, including Zijing International Conference Camp (2022) and Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum (2020), are widely published and represent his most mature works. Yet, he is convinced that his best building is in the making. "This is going to be amazing! I feel so excited!" the architect told me, referring to his now under-construction Majiayao Ruins Museum and Observatory in Gansu province in Northwestern China. "I hate column-beam solutions. I want column-free spaces for the public building," he continued. Our conversation took place earlier this year on a video call, complete with dozens of relevant illustrations.
Part Infrastructure, Part Landscape, Part Architecture: In Conversation with Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi
New York architects Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi founded their studio, Weiss/Manfredi, in 1989 after winning a couple of important competitions—for the Military Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery and Olympia Fields and Community Center near Chicago—both were built in the 1990s. Their most representative built works include the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Visitor Center, Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park, and the Barnard College Diana Center, all in New York City. The architects' Seattle Museum of Art's Olympic Sculpture Park, which won an international competition and was built in 2007, was praised by critics as one of the world's greatest sculpture parks and among the best examples of landscape urbanism.
Creating Architecture in an Uncivil Time: In Conversation with Ali Karimi of Civil Architecture
The Arabian Peninsula represents one of the world's leading exporters and users of fossil fuels, an economic reality that influences the area's visions for the future and, implicitly, architecture and urban planning's role in these scenarios. A number of emerging offices are however countering these narratives, turning to contextual research to reframe the area's production of architecture. Among these, cultural practice Civil Architecture has become recognized for its provocative works that explore alternative narratives for the identity of the Middle East. While in Bahrain, ArchDaily's Christele Harrouk had the chance to sit down with Ali Karimi, who, together with Hamed Bukhamseen, co-founded Civil Architecture. In the video interview, they discuss the practice of architecture in the Gulf region and the narrative and research-focused approach of the office.
A Compact Yet Fundamental Survey of the Modern Movement: In Conversation with Kenneth Frampton
If there is one book every architecture student must have on their shelf, it must be an architectural history. There is no more comprehensive yet compact alternative than Kenneth Frampton's Modern Architecture: A Critical History, originally published in 1980 by Thames & Hudson. Its much-expanded latest fifth 734-page, 813-illustration edition came out in 2020. In 2023, I discussed the book at length with the author in a video interview, now available on YouTube.
Regarding one compact yet fundamental survey of the evolution of the Modern movement, Modern Architecture: A Critical History is unquestionably the most authoritative, complete, and in-depth chronicle. The most valuable addition to the new book is the introduction of new chapters focusing on regions such as Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Australia, China, India, and Sri Lanka, among others. These chapters shed light on many before-overlooked practices that operated outside of traditional centers of power, namely Western Europe, the United States, and Japan.
“Unforgiving and Tough:” David Chipperfield on Living by the Sea in Louisiana Channel Interview
In this short video interview from the Louisiana Channel, Marc-Christoph Wagner interviews architect David Chipperfield in Galicia in April 2024, exploring his connection to the sea. The 2023 Pritzker Prize laureate speaks of his experience living for 30 years in a fishing village in Spain, delving into his connection to the place and the people's attitude towards the strength of the natural elements surrounding them.
Voices Shaping the Future of Architecture: ArchDaily's Best Interviews of 2024
In 2024, architecture continues to evolve in response to global challenges, with an increasing focus on sustainability, cultural context, and social responsibility. ArchDaily's interviews with leading architects, such as Kengo Kuma and Anne Lacaton, highlight how design is shifting towards environmental and community-centric solutions. These conversations also shed light on the emerging voices from the Global South, where innovative practices are addressing unique socio-political and environmental challenges. Architects from regions like Africa, Asia, and Latin America are offering fresh perspectives, pushing the boundaries of traditional architecture to reflect their diverse cultural narratives and local contexts.
"Buildings Have Their Own Lives:” Rafael Moneo on Creativity in Louisiana Channel Interview
In an interview with Louisiana Channel, Rafael Moneo, the celebrated Spanish architect and 1996 Pritzker Architecture Prize laureate, reflected on his career and philosophy. Born in Tudela, Navarra, Spain, in 1937, Moneo described how his early academic interests and professional experiences shaped his approach to architecture, resulting in a distinguished body of work that integrates historical, cultural, and environmental contexts.
Designing Bombardier’s Aerospace Campus in Toronto, Canada: Insights from Lilia Koleva of NEUF architect(e)s
Adjacent to Toronto's Pearson International Airport, the Bombardier Aircraft Assembly Center represents a landmark project in Canadian aerospace design. Located next to Canada's largest airport, it blends 70,000 m2 (750,000 ft2) of technical precision with a focus on people. ArchDaily's editor Moises Carrasco had the opportunity to speak with Lilia Koleva, partner at NEUF architect(e)s and founder of the firm's Toronto office, which led this project. Koleva shared insights into her professional journey and reflected on the challenges of building and growing NEUF's Toronto-based office. She also discusses the Bombardier Campus, describing it as a defining project in her career, and how it showcases NEUF's ability to tackle large-scale, technically demanding projects while maintaining a focus on the people who use the space. This project builds on the office's prior expertise in industrial design and expands its portfolio of human-centered architectural solutions. Koleva also reflects on the importance of fostering collaboration, adaptability, and a clear understanding of client needs; qualities that have defined her approach to architecture and leadership at NEUF.
