Titled The Laboratory of the Future and curated by Lesley Lokko, the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale will be holding the 18° International Architecture Exhibition from May 20 to November 26, 2023.

The 2023 edition of the Biennale will include 63 national participants allocated in the Giardini, at the Arsenale, and in the historic city center of Venice, Italy. Additionally, the exhibition will welcome Niger for the first time, along with Panama, which will have its own pavilion. The Holy See will also return to the Biennale Architettura with a pavilion on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore.

Please find below the full list of national participants at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.

How can a space that is no longer essential become valued again? The traditional office as we know it is disappearing with the changes brought about by technological advances and globalization, all of which was accelerated by the impositions of the pandemic. As living and working become inseparable activities and hybrid, flexible work arrangements are now the norm in many fields, offices will need to become increasingly sustainable, healthier, and also more comfortable. But how can architects and designers design workspaces so that people will continue to want to inhabit them? What solutions and furnishings can meet the needs of occupants, with flexible solutions that can adapt to a variety of activities and purposes?

On Tuesday evening, May 16, during the opening of the exhibition showcasing the five selected projects, the two winners of the 5th Tomie Ohtake Design Award were announced, receiving trophies and publications from the Tomie Ohtake Institute. Discover the projects below:

As part of the second Model: Barcelona Architectures Festival, local architecture firm H3o Architects—led by Adrià Orriols, Joan Gener, and Miquel Ruiz—presented the temporary installation “Nomad Assembly". As one of the five installations featured in this festival curated by Eva Franch i Gilabert and co-organized by the Barcelona City Council and the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, the project was developed to its full materialization in the public space beneath the canopy of the Mercat dels Encants, serving as the main stage for the event.

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When it comes to seismic resistance, there are a number of myths that question the ability of wood to adequately perform in the event of an earthquake. However, its ductility allows it to deform plastically without breaking, absorbing and dissipating the energy generated by movement and vibration. Furthermore, unlike steel or concrete, wood is a lightweight material with a good strength-to-weight ratio, enabling it to withstand seismic forces without adding excessive load to the construction. This has been extensively verified in smaller-scale structures around the world, but how does a high-rise mass timber building behave in the face of an earthquake?

To dispel doubts, the Tallwood Project recently erected a 10-story building made of cross-laminated timber (CLT) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). The structure was tested on a shake table that simulated the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles, magnitude 6.7, and the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan, magnitude 7.7.

Collaboration serves as a cornerstone of Building Information Modeling (BIM). By uniting clients and design teams on a unified platform, we can foster more efficient communication, ultimately enhancing design outcomes and guaranteeing fast project completion. Consequently, real-time multi-user collaboration (akin to Figma) represents a crucial advancement for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry.

Snaptrude facilitates this seamless collaboration between design teams and clients in a wide range of formats, including AutoCAD drawings, SketchUp models, PDFs, and images. Moreover, users can easily exchange design models between Revit and Snaptrude through a bi-directional linking feature, streamlining the entire design process.

Following an international competition, MVRDV has been selected to lead the design of the Hangzhou Oil Refinery Factory Park, an extensive project aiming to transform the former industrial district into a cultural center set in a green environment. Complete with a new art and science museum, offices, retail, and a wide variety of cultural offerings, the redevelopment demonstrates a way forward from an oil-based infrastructure to more sustainable alternatives, while retaining the memory of the past technologies. The park sits alongside the southern end of China’s Grand Canal, the world’s longest and one of the oldest man-made waterways created to strengthen economic connections between the south and the north of the country.

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Climate-related events could push between 800,000 and 3 million Brazilians into extreme poverty by 2030. The data comes from the Country Climate and Development Report for Brazil (CCDR), released in early May by the World Bank. According to the study, which assesses policies and options for the country to meet its climate and development goals, droughts, floods, and urban flooding cause losses of R$ 13 billion (0.1% of the 2022 GDP) per year.

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles (NHMLAC) announced the selection of Kossmanndejong (KDJ) as the firm that will lead the design of exhibition spaces and develop visitor experiences to reimagine the La Brea Tar Pits. As the world’s only active paleontological research site in an urban setting, KDJ will work through many design verticals, such as architecture, landscaping, and programming. KDJ, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was chosen through an international search and competitive process to provide creative and interpretive strategies for the site-wide redesign in Hancock Park. KDJ will collaborate with the architectural and landscape design team led by WEISS/MANFREDI and Los Angeles-based Gruen Associates, who NHMLAC recently named Executive Architect of the Year.

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The concept of sustainability emerged at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) in Stockholm in 1972 and was coined by Norwegian Gro Brundtland in the report "Our Common Future" (1987). According to this definition, the sustainable use of natural resources should "meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." However, despite the urgency of the concept and the constant evolution it has undergone over time, its application is often restricted to the controlled use of natural resources and the preservation of wildlife. In other words, it treats the situation from the perspective of "man versus nature," as a dichotomous view, with the loss of a holistic perspective.

The main purpose of public houses and eateries is to provide customers – both individuals and groups – with an environment and an atmosphere in which to release the stresses of their day or week so far, either with a quiet drink in a quiet corner, or in larger, more social groups.

Even before COVID brought with it more permanent closing times, the rise of on-demand TV and food delivery services meant that staying ‘in-in’ –with the comforting embrace of their pillow just a short hike up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire– was becoming a more popular choice. Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, to see the growing emergence of establishments that offer more active entertainment than a quiz night and karaoke box.

Here are five examples of bars and restaurants designed for life’s players.

Fascinating and photogenic, colorful cities often catch the eye not only of the thousands of tourists visiting every year but also of many architects around the world. From an aerial viewpoint - which happens to be how many visitors get their first glimpse of these cities from the window of an airplane - one can see the colorful picture created by the many different shades of roofs and rooftops.

There are many different reasons for this diversity of colors. Some cities use specific colors on roofing as a climate strategy, while others simply have a tradition of painting houses in a certain way. In any case, these colorful cities are unquestionably very visually appealing.

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I first went to China in 2002, a year after the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing. That initial trip was about exploring nature, cuisine, ancient temples, archeological sites, and, in general, experiencing lifestyles in China, mainly outside of its major cities. I was motivated by the pure curiosity of a Western tourist driven to an Eastern country in search of the old world, the exotic, hoping to catch a glimpse of a rich traditional culture on the cusp of its inevitable radical transformation. At the time, there was no modern, or rather contemporary, architecture in China to speak of. There were only the promising first hints of the development of a potentially new architectural language being undertaken by just a handful of independent architects almost entirely under the radar.

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The Public Urban and Landscape Preliminary Design Competition for the recovery and transformation of downtown Santiago de Cali along the historic Calle 5 axis – El Paseo de Jovita al Río was organized by the Administrative Department of Planning of the Santiago de Cali district, with the advisory support of the Colombian Society of Architects - Valle del Cauca chapter. In partnership with the Mayor's Office of Santiago de Cali, they invited submissions for this competition, which aimed to select the best preliminary urban, landscape, multimodal integration, street furniture, and lighting design, as well as a foundational framework for the relationship between public and private space.

“It feels like boys matter more,” says ten-year-old Molly during an interview for the podcast Visible Women, in which Caroline Criado Perez explains how the lack of data and design around how women and girls use public spaces results in public environments designed solely for the default gender: the male.

In April 2023, India achieved a significant milestone that will shape the trajectory of its urbanization going forward. According to data from the United Nations, the South Asian subcontinent is now home to over 1.4286 billion people, overtaking the former leader China’s count of 1.4257 billion. With a population boom that is estimated to grow at a 0.7% rate annually, India faces several challenges and opportunities in its path to becoming a global power. How will India’s rising demography influence its built environment?

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Every year since 1996, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has hosted the RIBA London Awards to celebrate outstanding works of architecture from across the United Kingdom. This year, the list of winners includes 52 buildings ranging from a senior day-care center in Blackheath to a cultural hub in Greenwich and a subtle intervention in Hackney’s de Beauvoir conservation area. All RIBA London Awards winners will be considered for the RIBA National Award, scheduled to be announced on June 22^nd.

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Flexibility and open spaces are themes in contemporary house design. Multifunctional spaces and creative storage solutions are more than welcome when seeking easily adaptable environments to meet owners' constantly changing needs. To give you some fresh inspiration, we have selected ten projects that feature countertops that integrate different programs and serve more than one function in the home.

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Climatic conditions are changing around the world, and with more extreme temperatures and limited resources, architectural and urban solutions must also change. How could our homes look and function effectively in a post-climate change scenario? Analyzing in detail the forecasts of these climatic variations, the architects of W-LAB have developed a Low-Tech habitat proposal for humid, hot, and arid climates, incorporating bio-materials, transportable solutions, and configurations that promote life in small and resilient communities.

Next month ICFF and WantedDesign Manhattan, New York’s concurrent design fairs that form the backbone of the NYCxDESIGN Festival, come together under the same leadership for the first time. Already under the same roof –that of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center– since 2021, ICFF, the long-standing platform for established American design and its international peers, and WantedDesign Manhattan, the platform for independent and emerging talent at home and abroad, are now co-ordinated by WantedDesign’s founders, Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat. Integrating agendas and taking the fairs in a new interactive direction, they are looking to unify the vision while retaining the essence and purpose of each.

Whether establishing greater fluidity between spaces, integrating distinct elements of an architectural design, or creating a more playful atmosphere, suspended structures in residential projects yield a wide range of spatial experiences.

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Unoccupied spaces within the city are typically viewed as conditions lying somewhere between problem and potential. It is partly the role of architecture and urbanism to thoughtfully mobilize these spaces within the urban context. With these issues in mind, the firm Vazio S/A proposes the activation of spaces deemed residual in the urban landscape or in specific contexts, drawing on the potential that vacant spaces offer.

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In tropical countries like Brazil, external areas are highly valued in residential projects. The backyards are used differently and configured according to the architectural project. Whether large or small, landscaped, with a pool, or equipped with other features, Brazilian families seek to make the most of their outdoor areas when possible.

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Cities are complex ecologies of intersecting natural systems and urban infrastructure. Environmental degradation has brought attention to the asymbiotic relationship between man-made and natural systems. A new economy is emerging where interdependence and environmental stewardship are valued. Designing for a circular economy requires consideration of human habitats not as towns or cities, but as bioregions. 

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