Carlo Ratti, the curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, along with The President of La Biennale di Venezia, Pietrangelo Buttafuocco, have just revealed highly anticipated details for the upcoming edition. Titled “Intelligens,” the exhibition will be running from May 24th to November 23rd, 2025 in Giardini, the Arsenale, and various landmark locations throughout Venice.
Embracing a spectrum of meanings encapsulated within the word “Intelligens” or “Intelligence,” the concise word can refer to the latin root, it encompasses modern notions of intelligence, while also referring to the root of the word “gens,” meaning people. This combination hints at a future intelligence, seeking to transcend the confines of contemporary AI, fostering inclusivity and imagination.
In the announcement, Ratti emphasized the “interconnectedness” of architecture with diverse disciplines, such as art, engineering, biology, data science, and social sciences, all playing a role in shaping the built environment. With the looming climate crisis as well as architecture’s role in environmental degradation, the exhibition explores “intelligent solutions," experimenting with adaptability and resourcefulness. In fact, the exhibition aims to respond to the urgent need for substantial solutions amidst the accelerating climate crisis. Serving as a platform for diverse design proposals and experiments under three categories (natural, artificial, and collective intelligence), architects are invited to imagine catalysts for evolutionary processes. By drawing insights from various sciences, architects are also asked to envision a more sustainable future that stems from the different forms of intelligence.
The exhibition will search for a path forward, proposing that intelligent solutions to pressing problems can take many forms. It will present a collection of design proposals and many other experiments, exploring a definition of ‘intelligence’ as an ability to adapt to the environment with limited resources, knowledge, or power. Objects, buildings, and urban plans will be arranged along the axis of multiple and widespread intelligence – organized as natural, artificial, collective, and combinations of the three. While some ideas are destined to fail, others may point us toward redemption. --Carlo Ratti, Curator, 2025 Venice Biennale
To navigate these obstacles intelligently, several strategies are needed. The exhibition redefines intelligence as the capacity for resource adaptation and will feature a wide range of design concepts and experiments. The spectrum of natural, artificial, and collective intelligence, as well as its combinations, will be represented in the selection of items, structures, and urban designs. While some concepts might not work, others might show possible directions to go.
The curator explained that the exhibition’s ethos is further emphasized by four methodology pillars: transcdiscipinarity, which fosters collaborations across professions; the living lab approach, which transforms Venice into dynamic spaces for intelligence; space for ideas, which invites diverse voices to contribute solutions through an open submission platform; and a circularity protocol, which sets ambitious goals for sustainability. Ultimately, the four pillars are aimed at fostering collaboration, experimentation, and sustainability.
Standing as one of the most highly anticipated architectural events worldwide, the Venice Biennale is a platform for architects and designers to venture into the unknown and experiment with new ideas, fostering global dialogue and creative exchange. In 2023, La Biennale di Venezia was curated by Lesley Lokko, and was considering “the African continent as the protagonist of the future.” Focused on Africa and its diaspora, the theme encouraged architects globally to understand and piece together the culture of people of African descent.
Carlo Ratti, an acclaimed Italian architect, engineer, and educator, is recognized for his work as the founder and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab. The project acts as an interdisciplinary research group exploring the intersection of urban design and digital technologies. In other similar news, he recently designed “Theatre of Nature,” the project selected as France’s national pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025. Additionally, his studio, Carlo Ratti Associati, has just revealed its designs for a waterfront green energy park in Trieste, Italy.
