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10 Pavilion Highlights from the London Design Biennale 2025

The fifth edition of the London Design Biennale is taking place at Somerset House from 5 to 29 June 2025. The theme of this year's edition is "Surface Reflections," an invitation to explore "the dynamic interplay between internal experience and external influence." The curatorial proposal, set by British artist and designer Samuel Ross, encourages a focus on the underlying layers of the objects, systems, and spaces that shape our daily lives. The Biennale exhibition is a journey through 35 pavilions by countries, institutional design teams, and curators, presenting soundscapes, immersive experiences, and performances, as well as sculptural and evocative objects. To confront contemporary global challenges, topics include identity, memory, innovation, technology, craftsmanship, ecology, and belonging.

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Ernesto Neto’s Textile Art Installation at Paris’ Grand Palais Captured by Paul Clemence

The exhibition "Nosso Barco Tambor Terra" by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto, held at the recently renovated Grand Palais in Paris from June 6 to July 25, 2025, is a large-scale, immersive installation that invites visitors to reconnect with nature and community through sensory experience. Drawing inspiration from Brazilian and Indigenous cultures, Neto uses textiles, scents, and organic materials to create a space for reflection and interaction. The textile installation was recently captured by photographer Paul Clemence, who sought to portray its architectural qualities.

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Portugal Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale Presents an Immersive Allegory of Paradise

Titled Paraíso, hoje. [Paradise, today.], the exhibition representing Portugal at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia addresses architecture as a cultural construction of landscape. Curated by architects Paula Melâneo, Pedro Bandeira, and Luca Martinucci, landscape architect Catarina Raposo, and video artist Nuno Cera, it offers an immersive installation featuring videos created using new digital technologies and artificial intelligence, along with an Atlas of images. Together, they construct a critical exploration of the proposed theme, the allegory of a "Paradise." This year, the Portuguese exhibition changed location, moving from Palazzo Franchetti to the Fondaco Marcello building, next to Venice's Grand Canal. It will remain open to visitors and host a series of debates until 23 November 2025.

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Uruguay’s Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale Highlights Water Management as Essential to the Future of Architecture

The national exhibition of Uruguay at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, titled "53.86% Uruguay, Land of Water," explores the intrinsic relationship between architecture, territory, and water. Curated by architects Katia Sei Fong and Ken Sei Fong, along with visual artist Luis Sei Fong, the exhibition proposes that we may be entering the age of water, the "Hydrocene", and that the way humanity manages and conserves this resource will shape its future. In this context, the project highlights that Uruguay's maritime territory (53.86%) is larger than its land territory. Water, therefore, is not only a natural resource but a fundamental element of the country's history and culture, essential to its development.

The Metaverse Unleashed: The Rise of Human-Scale Digital Venues

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This article is the eighth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints. In this feature, architect John Marx interviews Heather Gallagher, an international expert in transformative events and the experience economy and former Head of Technology at Burning Man.

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Populous Reveals Design for a New Gaming and Esports Arena in Saudi Arabia

Populous has unveiled the design of the Qiddiya City Esports Arena, a new facility aimed to become the focal point for Qiddiya City, a planned entertainment and tourism megaproject in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Featuring the largest total area of video screens of any esports arena, along with immersive 4D technologies, the new arena strives to become the central attraction in the ‘world’s first mixed-use gaming and esports district.’

WORKac Breaks Ground on "The People's Theater" in Inwood, New York

WORKac has just initiated the construction of a new cultural center in Inwood, New York. Led by immigrants and women of color, “The People’s Theater: Centro Cultural Inmigrante” is dedicated to supporting immigrant New Yorkers through various artistic programs. Spanning multiple languages and generations, their unique form of theater serves as a dynamic platform for immigrants and members of the Latin, Black, and Queer communities.

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Next Generation Goggles: Augmented Reality Meets Virtual Reality

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This article is the fifth in a series focusing on the Architecture of the Metaverse. ArchDaily has collaborated with John Marx, AIA, the founding design principal and Chief Artistic Officer of Form4 Architecture, to bring you monthly articles that seek to define the Metaverse, convey the potential of this new realm as well as understand its constraints.

Science fiction writers inspire us with bold and provocative visions of the future. Huxley, Orwell, Assimov, and Bradbury easily come to mind.  They have imagined great advances in technology and oftentimes predicted shifts in social structure that were a result of the human need to open Pandora's Box. A large part of the charm and allure of science fiction is the bold audacity of some of these predictions. They seem to defy the laws of nature and science, and then, faster than you might have thought, the spectrum of human inventiveness makes it so.

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What is the Impact of Apple’s Vision Pro Augmented Reality Goggles on the Field of Architecture?

On June 5, Apple launched Apple Vision Pro, a new type of spatial computer that uses augmented reality goggles to allow users to experience a blend between the digital and physical worlds. The device promises to offer its users an infinite canvas for apps, larger and more immersive than traditional displays, while allowing them to stay present and connected to others. It features visionOS, the first spatial operating system to create this new way of interacting with digital content. Previous concepts like the metaverse have promised to transform the way we experience digital worlds, with architects taking the opportunity to delve into the design of restriction-free virtual spaces. Could this new device bring new ways of experiencing three-dimensional spaces, to better integrate architecture with digital environments?

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Saudi Arabia Unveils Design for the Mukaab, a Large-Scale Cube-Shaped Skyscraper in Riyadh

The Saudi Arabian government has revealed the design for the Mukaab, a cube-shaped supertall skyscraper that will become the center of the New Murabba district in downtown Riyadh. The Mukaab aims to become the largest built structure in the world, measuring 400 meters in height, width, and length. The building will be situated in the North West of Riyadh, in a 19 square kilometers area that will become one of the largest downtown developments in the world. The Mukaab skyscraper and the Murabba district were announced by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prime Minister and Chairman of the New Murabba Development Company (NMDC).

London Design Festival 2022: Reflecting on the City’s Creative History

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The first full-size London Design Festival (LDF) for three years, and the event’s 20th anniversary year, this was meant to be a celebration. But life, as the saying goes, had other plans. Rocked by the news of HRH Queen Elizabeth II’s passing, the country, and indeed the world started the London Design Festival in a period of mourning. Having reigned over the densest period of design innovation in human history, however, her majesty was no stranger to change.

With long-running themes like sustainability, materials, economic crises, and digital futures never higher in the public’s consciousness, LDF ’22 wasn’t just a professional meet and greet, but a chance to share some much-needed positivity with design enthusiasts, as well as locals, just passing by. Here are the most interesting and talked-about installations and talks from nine days of reflection on the past and hope for the future.

UNStudio Transforms JetBrains Office into a Green and Immersive Campus

After winning an international competition at the end of 2019, UNStudio has designed the new office of international software development company JetBrains in Saint Petersburg, promoting interaction and sustainability through its architecture, and focusing on the project's three keywords: Connective, Comfortable, and Versatile. UNStudio further developed the design in 2020 and construction is expected to start later this year.

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Foster + Partners, Steven Spielberg, and Immersive Team Up for Universal Sphere

Foster+Partners and Immersive have joined forces with Steven Spielberg to create a digital entertainment experience for the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia. Immersive, recognized as a world leader in the design and production of experimental media installations, conceived the installation having been approached by Foster + Partners in 2016 to create a multimedia experience that would embody the Comcast Technology Center’s focus on innovation.