Message from the 19th International Architecture Biennale in Venice

I visit the Venice Biennale regularly since 2002. Most of the time, I choose to go just before the end of the entire celebration to simultaneously take a break from the autumn dreariness in the Czech Republic. However, by that time, the exhibition is often past its prime. This time, an opportunity arose to visit the exhibition a few days after the opening, just when all the journalists and experts from the lagoon city had departed, but the media space had not yet been filled with celebratory or critical responses. In the past, visits to the Venice Biennale were accompanied by concerns about how the joint presentation of the Czech and Slovak Republics would fare in international competition. Last time, based on observations of regular visitors, it succeeded with Martin Rajniš, who in 2010 infused the Novotný Pavilion with wooden models. Curators should not forget that the Venice Biennale is not a scientific periodical; it also plays a popularization role and aims to attract a broad audience (last year, the art biennale was attended by 700,000 interested parties, and in 2023, the architecture biennale attracted 285,000 visitors). Since the summer of 2019, when a tree fell on the roof of the Czechoslovak Pavilion, I perceive the locked doors not only as a statement about the state of the institution but also as a positive contribution to minimizing the carbon footprint. However, I do not know where the biennale would end up if other states or all seven hundred participants of the main exhibition in the Arsenale shared a similar approach.
This year's curator was Turin architect Carlo Ratti, who chose "Intelligence" as the main theme, whether natural, artificial, or collective (detailed in the accompanying nearly thousand-page catalog). After previous years enchanted by modern technologies and presentations in virtual spaces, this time there was a sense of humility towards nature and a return to substantial physical models. Installations in the national pavilions in Giardini were the responsibility of individual states, which could either freely adhere to the common theme or not. The resulting exhibition in the Arsenale involved more than seven hundred fifty different personalities, studios, scientific institutions, and student teams, which created 300 exhibits for specific locations. A whole range of temporary pavilions was created either directly on the exhibition grounds or at various places in the city. In addition to the main two exhibitions in the Arsenale and Giardini, other countries are represented in Venetian palaces. Throughout the city, parallel events such as the Diagrams exhibition (developed by think tank AMO/OMA) are taking place at the Fondazione Prada (in the Ca'Corner della Regina palace on the Grand Canal), bringing a collection of three hundred diagrams from deep history to digital contemporary. For many years, the exhibition Time Space Existence has run parallel to the architectural biennale in the Bembo Palace, which has now expanded into the Marinaressa Gardens near Giardini, where you can relax in the shade of one of the pavilions by studios like Elemental, Cloud 9, or MVRDV, which focused on recycling and long-term sustainability.
After a spring visit to the Roman exhibition Restless Architecture conceived by the studio Diller Scofidio+Renfro, two of their temporary pavilions— a bookstore and a café that even won the main Golden Lion award—were also on display in Venice. A short-term installation was also brought by British architect Norman Foster, who, in collaboration with Porsche, created a metal bridge leading to the floating platform Gateway to the Venetian Waterway in the Arsenale docks, where the so-called water bicycles Schiller, human-powered catamarans, were parked.
Behind every exhibition lies a story that could fill a separate article. Some pavilions in Giardini already offer extensive publications for sale at the entrance. The most intellectually demanding experience is traversing the hundred meters long building of the former rope factory (Corderie) in the Arsenale, where you are greeted by a dark installation Perspective of the Third Paradise (a new symbol of infinity referring to the lifelong theme of Italian painter, art theorist, and significant representative of Arte Povera Michelangelo Pistoletto) after the entrance projection of slow rock mining, where visitors weave through a trio of connected circles on the water surface while dozens of air conditioning units hang above, adjusting the temperature and humidity to almost unbearable levels. Here, you feel as if you are trapped inside an air conditioner. The installation prepares us for what our planet will face in the future if we do not change our behavior. Pistoletto's Third Paradise represents a fusion of the first and second paradises. While in the first paradise, humans were fully connected to nature, the second paradise was artificially created by human hands on a global scale through science and technology. Humanity has managed to create an artificial world in recent years that has simultaneously triggered irreversible processes of decline and loss of the natural world alongside its beneficial effects. The Third Paradise is meant to represent a balanced connection between the artificially created and nature. According to Pistoletto, the Third Paradise is a transition to a new level necessary for the survival of humanity. For this purpose, it is essential first to reformulate the principles and ethical behavior that guide our shared life. The word "paradise" comes from ancient Persian and means "protected garden." Thus, we become modern gardeners who must protect this planet. The symbol of the Third Paradise, the reconfiguration of the mathematical sign of infinity, consists of three consecutive circles. The two outer circles represent all diversities and oppositions, between which lie nature and artificiality. The middle circle is formed by the intersection of the opposing circles and represents the fertile womb of a new humanity.
Just beyond this introductory room, on which one could ponder for a long time and briefly inhabit, is the exhibition The Other Side of the Hill by the duo of American theorists Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley, who, with their collaborators, combined microbiology and theoretical physics with the history and theory of architecture. This semicircular installation describing an exponential curve illustrates the growth of the world population over the past five thousand years, while simultaneously threatening collapse in less than a generation due to declining birth rates worldwide. As a surprising source of inspiration, they look to bacteria, which have been on the planet for over four billion years and, alongside enormous growth, are also masters of cohabitation with limited resources, adaptability, and regeneration. The author of the installation The Other Side of the Hill, Spanish architect Patricia Urquiola, used 1500 blocks made from the composite material Cimento®️ containing hydraulic binders, mineral aggregates, recycled glass, and organic elements from the Venetian lagoon, including reeds, shells, and algae. This massive hill made of living mass simultaneously raises the theme of interdependence, recycling, and regeneration.
Visually equally captivating and with a similarly complex theoretical narrative is each of the three hundred installations found in the halls of the Arsenale. The second part of the biennale is traditionally concentrated in Giardini Park, where the pavilion of the Czech and Slovak Republics is also located. It was not the only one that did not open its doors this year. Other countries included Venezuela, Russia, or Israel, where it is understandable that they have enough problems in their own country. In our case, the apologetic arguments are harder to find. A branch fell on the skylight of the Czechoslovak Pavilion back in July 2019, and since then, the responsible institutions have been unable to make the pavilion operational.
Meanwhile, one could take a cue from neighboring France, which is also reconstructing its pavilion. While the main building remains closed, there was much more activity all around. The authors of this year's exhibition Vivre Avec are Paris-based Jakob+MacFarlane, who expanded the scaffolding and hung exhibition panels with projects from French and international architectural schools. The resulting space serves not only as an exhibition venue but also as a place for meeting and holding discussion forums. From the lightweight structure, an adventurous path was created leading to a normally inaccessible water canal, through which construction supplies are currently being delivered due to the renovation. Maximum has been extracted from a complicated situation.
While the French allowed visitors to walk around the scaffolding of the renovated pavilion, the Danes decided to halt reconstruction during the biennale, preserve the structure, and make it accessible to visitors. Copenhagen architect Soren Pihlmann, in collaboration with experts from various universities (RDA, ETH), unveils individual layers and transforms elements (the floor becomes a table, windows are flipped in a different direction than the original architect intended) and uses hyper-local material recycling methods. The Danish pavilion serves as a laboratory, construction site, and showcase.
Similarly, construction work is ongoing at the main Italian pavilion in Giardini, where they even broke the long-standing rule that no major construction work should take place during the exhibition, and there is bustling activity on-site.
Helsinki curator Kaisa Karvinen selected performative character Teo Ala-Ruona for this year's exhibition in the iconic Scandinavian Pavilion by Sverre Fehn. With a punk approach to Le Corbusier's Five Points of New Architecture, they challenge his purism and present in their exhibition Industrial Muscles a post-apocalyptic scenography, where parts of buildings or machines are recycled and connected with audiovisual outputs. A key part of the entire exhibition is an artistic performance in costumes made of recycled textiles, where dancers translate the built environment into body language.
The Korean Pavilion commemorates the thirtieth anniversary of its establishment and has reopened its roof after a long time. The exhibition In-Between in the Japanese pavilion, led by Jun Aoki, employed artificial intelligence and robots during the design process, yet the result remains very close to nature and humanity.
Hungary presented a similar theme as the Czech and Slovak Republics at the last architectural biennale. Alongside a critical description of working conditions for emerging creators, Hungarian curator MáRton Pintér also offered stories of architects who succeeded in areas different from their studied profession.
The Qatari pavilion was created as a temporary structure made of bamboo and reeds in the open space next to Stirling's Bookstore. The pavilion was designed by Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari and the exhibition inside pays homage to the work of Egyptian urban planner Hassan Fathy.
The Australian pavilion is one of the youngest buildings in Giardini. It remains hidden in a grove near the canal, and its black coloring does little to aid in its discovery. The surprise of finding it is thus even greater. This year's installation is titled Home. In the center of the square layout is a circular seating area made of rammed earth, and along the perimeter walls, works from over 100 students from 11 universities across Australia are displayed in vitrines. Each participant was asked to reflect on what home means to them, and visitors are encouraged to properly touch the displayed works.
Polish art historian Aleksandra Kędziorek humorously approached the topic of her exhibition Lares and Penates: On Building a Sense of Security in Architecture, exploring the means that make our homes safer while also allowing one to learn about Roman mythology.
The English pavilion received a new cloak made of suspended beads, and with the subtitle Geology of Britannic Repair, it focused on several areas in Kenya, a former British colony. The multidisciplinary British-Kenyan curatorial team led by Professor Kathryn Yusoff, historian Owen Hopkins, and architects from Nairobi's studio Cave_bureau primarily aimed to explore the relationship between architecture and colonization as parallel interconnected systems.
The exhibition Stresstest in the German pavilion highlighted the slowly rising temperatures in urban centers due to the loss of trees. A quartet of curators primarily selected from landscape studios that analyzed gradually developed areas and sought common solutions to prevent city centers from becoming uninhabitable ovens in the summer months.
The Austrian pavilion was divided into two halves, and behind a metal curtain, a trio of curators presented under the joint name Agency for Better Housing two very different approaches in seeking new ways of living. One wing of the Austrian pavilion presented examples of the revitalization of modern ruins in Rome through local civic activities, while the other part showcased the widely praised model of social housing in Vienna, long overseen by the local municipality.
In front of the historicizing USA pavilion, a large wooden porch inviting relaxation has sprung up. Curator Peter MacKeith from the University of Arkansas focused on the development and various forms of this semi-open architectural element, mostly situated at the entrance to the building. To create the right acoustic atmosphere, wooden floors were installed not only on the outdoor porch but also inside the exhibition halls. Instead of the intellectual East Coast or the action-oriented West Coast, this time the American heartland was presented, which pleasantly slowed the visit. At the request of Carlo Ratti, for this year's biennale to consider the environment as much as possible, after the biennale, the wooden structure of the American pavilion will be dismantled and reused in schoolyards in Venice and Rome.
The Canadian pavilion, designed by the Milan studio BBPR in the mid-1950s, was reopened in all its original glory after a four-year reconstruction (2018-22). The pavilion's layout, which embraces a tree and a roof structure with a glazed atrium, is now complemented by the exhibition Picoplanktonics from the scientific team Living Room Collective, consisting of two organic printed stems placed in a shallow pond. Scientists from the Living Room Collective developed a biofabrication system capable of printing live structures combining sediments with bacteria. These structures were printed at ETH Zurich to ensure that the cyanobacteria received the most air, allowing the conversion process to occur, which, however, happens over a long time horizon. The artificial stems are filled with plant structures from marine cyanobacteria that bind carbon in two ways—photosynthesis and biocementation, which means they remove carbon from the air and convert it into minerals.
In the Swiss pavilion, they recall that the final form of the project will only be achieved at the construction site. A quintet of curators inserted wooden circular fragments and a canvas shelter reminiscent of a tent into the rectangular existing structure. The Belgian pavilion, led by the studio Bas Smets, creates an artificial biosphere inside. The Spanish pavilion focused on materials and constructions that will help reduce the carbon footprint in construction. The duo of architects Roi Salgueiro Barrio and Manuel Bouzas Barcala selected 32 examples from the last decade and hung them on imaginary wooden scales in the central pavilion. In adjacent rooms, the potential of individual materials, their recycling, and water source conservation are thematically analyzed.
You can either fly through all the exhibitions in a few minutes with the words of chief curator Carlo Ratti (during the opening lecture, Ratti projected a famous scene from the film Banda pro sebe by Jean-Luc Godard from 1964, where three young people try to break the record for the fastest tour of the entire Paris Louvre), or study for long hours or regularly visit for many days while still discovering something new. Most visitors choose the middle path. I will definitely repeat the tour once more during the autumn rains and will return to this year's biennale many times with positive memories.