Tag: nordic-pavilion | ArchDaily

The Nordic Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale Explores Architecture Through the Lens of the Trans Body

Antonia Piñeiro — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 05:30:00 +0000

The Nordic countries' display at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is housed in Sverre Fehn's celebrated 1962 Nordic Pavilion, a landmark of architectural modernism representing Sweden, Norway, and Finland. This year, the Nordic countries present an exhibition that blends architecture, performance, and art installation, treating the built environment as a stage for the sociopolitical norms of fossil-based culture. Curated by Kaisa Karvinen for the Architecture & Design Museum Helsinki, the exhibition, titled Industry Muscle: Five Scores for Architecture, explores modern architecture through the lens of the trans body, featuring the work of Finnish artist Teo Ala-Ruona, who combines performance art, theatre, and choreography.

On Designing National Pavilions: Power and Identity at Universal Exhibitions

Camilla Ghisleni — Fri, 30 May 2025 07:30:00 +0000

What can a pavilion’s architecture reveal about its country? At major World Expos, national pavilions are designed to answer this question, transforming into spaces laden with symbolism. Though temporary, these structures are rich in meaning, functioning as architectural expressions of political identity. Their forms and materials encapsulate national ambitions. Expo Osaka 2025, the latest chapter in this ongoing narrative, showcases how nations increasingly use built space to construct global images of themselves—sustainable, technological, culturally distinct, and geopolitically relevant.

AD Classics: Nordic Pavilion, Venice / Sverre Fehn

Agustina Iñiguez — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 04:00:00 +0000

As a result of the ideas competition organized by the governments of Sweden, Finland, and Norway in 1958, Sverre Fehn's Nordic Pavilion won first prize, becoming one of the most significant works of his career and one of the most outstanding Scandinavian architectural achievements during the mid-20th century. Designed to create a space at the Venice Biennale for the biennial exhibitions of these countries, Fehn's proposal addressed several key architectural challenges—ranging from its integration with the site and incorporation of pre-existing elements to the handling of physical boundaries and uniform natural lighting. His design explored the interaction between architecture and trees, the flexibility in the exhibition space, the filtering of light, the connection between interior and exterior, the concept of movement through space, and the display of artworks.

Exploring Indigenous Wisdom: A Journey through Architecture Rooted in Tradition and Community

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 05:30:00 +0000

According to the United Nations, indigenous people are "place-based" ethnic cultures that have not migrated from their initial homeland. In today's world, with human-caused climate change driving extreme weather events and a growing demand for authenticity and cultural diversity, architects are increasingly turning to indigenous knowledge systems not only as sources of inspiration but as viable solutions to adapt and respond to local and global challenges. As traditional custodians of the land, Indigenous communities possess a profound understanding of their ecosystems, locally available materials, cultural norms, and social constraints. This knowledge holds insights valuable for shaping contemporary architecture, helping it adapt to both the people and their environments.

On-Site in Venice: 12 Interviews with Curators Discussing the Impact of the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale

Maria-Cristina Florian — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 04:30:00 +0000

While exploring the 18th International Architecture Exhibition, the ArchDaily team had a chance to engage in conversation with several curators of the national pavilions, along with Lesley Lokko, the curator of the entire exhibition. The discussions delved into the unique character of this year’s edition focused on an understanding of Africa as a “Laboratory of the Future.” Through this lens, the biennale became “a healing experience,” in the words of Lesley Lokko, reinterpreting and deconstructing the meaning behind ideas such as decolonization, decarbonization, resource management, or finding the hidden potential in vernacular forms of practice.

The Nordic Pavilion at Expo Osaka 2025 to be Designed by AMDL CIRCLE

Maria-Cristina Florian — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 06:30:00 +0000

Following an international competition, AMDL CIRCLE has been selected to create the pavilion which will represent the spirit and vision of the Nordic Countries at the Expo Osaka in 2025. Their proposal takes a sustainable and circular approach, as the structure is purposely designed for disassembly and reuse. Technically developed and engineered by Rimond and conceived by AMDL CIRCLE, the pavilion aims to showcase the Nordic people’s respect and connection with the environment while offering ample space for the display of technological innovations.

A Mindset of Revival: Exploring Reuse in Urban Biennales and Pavilions

Nour Fakharany — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 04:00:00 +0000

In light of the looming climate crisis and the pursuit of sustainability, the concepts of revival and reuse have emerged as crucial strategies in the quest for decarbonization in the architecture industry. These principles preach that creating new structures may be sustainable but encourage architects to minimize their ecological footprint by reactivating and recycling existing resources. This year specifically, innovative projects in line with these themes were displayed as part of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. This world-renowned event’s core purpose is to serve as a platform for architects, designers, and thinkers to collectively reimagine sustainability, decarbonization, resource conservation, and the industry's future.

In Conversation with Joar Nango, James Taylor-Foster and Carlos Mínguez Carrasco, the Architect and Curators of the Nordic Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale

Nour Fakharany — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 04:30:00 +0000

The Nordic Countries Pavilion for the 18^th International Architecture Exhibition “Girjegumpi”, is a collaborative library archive of Sámi architecture. While exploring La Biennale di Venezia onsite in Venice, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the architect Joar Nango and also with the curators James Taylor-Foster and Carlos Mínguez Carrasco about the pavilion and its depths.

The Nordic Countries Pavilion Brings an Indigenous Sámi Architecture Library to the 2023 Venice Biennale

Maria-Cristina Florian — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 07:30:00 +0000

For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Nordic Countries Pavilion, representing Finland, Norway, and Sweden, will showcase Girjegumpi, an itinerant collective library project initiated by architect and artist Joar Nango. For over fifteen years, Joar Nango has been assembling an archive of books and materials exploring Indigenous Sámi architecture and design, traditional building knowledge, activism, and decoloniality. The Girjegumpi first opened to the public in 2018, becoming a welcoming space for gathering and promoting the Indigenous culture. In 2023, the library will travel to Venice, where it will be presented in the Nordic Countries Pavilion, designed by Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn.

Curators of 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale on the Future of the Built Environment in Design and the City Podcast

Dima Stouhi — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:30:00 +0000

In this two-part episode of Design and the City - a podcast on how to make cities more livable – reSITE covers the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, exploring the question of “How will we live together". Part-one looks into the works of the U.S, Nordic, and Luxembourg Pavilion curators, focusing on their use of timber construction as an answer to the exhibition's theme. Part-two features curator Hashim Sarkis and Greg Lindsay, along with the British and Austrian pavilion curators, as they explore the topic of accessibility.

Nordic Pavilion to Be Transformed into an Experimental Co-Housing Project for the 2021 Venice Biennale

Christele Harrouk — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 06:30:00 +0000

The Nordic Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale will be transformed into an experimental cohousing project by architects Helen & Hard, supported by a curatorial team from the National Museum of Norway. Responding to the theme of How will we live together? the intervention “will present a framework for designing and building communities based on participation and sharing”.

Spotlight: Sverre Fehn

Marie Chatel — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 04:30:00 +0000

1997 Pritzker Prize laureate Sverre Fehn (August 14th 1924 – February 23rd 2009) was a leader in Post World War II Scandinavian architecture. “His work has an intuitive confidence in how to use the Nordic landscape and its particular light conditions within the built culture, and yet throughout his career each period has reflected a refined sensitivity to international changes and attitudes in architecture,” said his close collaborator Per Olaf Fjeld. “It can be compared to a poetic work conceived on an isolated mountain by a writer with an uncanny, intuitive sense of what is going on in the towns below.” [1]