Taking a broader perspective on architecture, the exhibition shifts its focus towards the discipline rather than just the profession. It’s not “about building buildings per se”, explains the curator to ArchDaily. Instead, it seeks to question our conventional understanding of architecture, and with that, architectural exhibitions. The 2023 Biennale is a laboratory in every sense of the word, a global platform of experimentation, and a space to explore new ideas in the absence of spaces that allow us to do so. "It borrows its structure and format from art exhibitions, but it differs from art in critical ways which often go unnoticed", states Lesley Lokko in her initial statement.
Czech Republic Pavilion at the Universal World EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Image Courtesy of Apropos Architects - Renders by ZAN Studio
Apropos Architects has won the competition to design the Czech Republic Pavilion at the Universal World EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Japan. The architecture of the intervention prioritizes movement as a crucial component of preserving physical health.
The pavilion's content demands a creative connection with spiritual and cultural ideals while openly urging visitors to engage in physical activity. It focuses on the concept that the movement of the body and the soul can shape a place, with a dynamic ascending spiral designed as a metaphor for the ideal life path. As visitors actively move within the pavilion, the cultural content materializes, culminating in a journey that generates lasting inner energy.
The National Pavilion of the Czech Republic presents the exhibition “The Office for a Non-Precarious Future” at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The exhibition investigates current pressing issues faced by the architectural profession and especially by young practitioners by asking the initial question: ”How can architects design a better world if they themselves work in a toxic working system?.” The pavilion is commissioned by Helena Huber-Doudová and will present the works of exhibitors Eliška Havla Pomyjová, David Neuhäusl, and Jan Netušil. As the Czech ad Slovak Pavilion at the Giardini della Biennale is under reconstruction, the Czech Republic will exceptionally use the Arsenale in the Artiglierie section as its exhibition space. The Czech and Slovak Pavilion in Giardini will serve only as a digital hub to complement the main presentation.
Courtesy of the South African Pavilion at Biennale Architettura 2023
For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the South African Pavilion explores the architectural representation of social structures through an exhibition titled “The Structure of a People.” Prior to the exhibition, the pavilion curators, Mr. Stephen Steyn, Dr. Emmanuel Nkambule, and Dr. Sechaba Maape, conducted a national architecture competition titled “Political Animals,” aimed at gathering artifacts crafted by lecturers and architecture students to represent the structures of their schools or universities. The resulting models and miniature architectures, produced by ModelArt, will be exhibited within Zone III, Political Animals, as part of the South African Pavilion.
The Naomi Milgrom Foundation has revealed the design of its tenth MPavilion, designed by Pritzker Prize-winner Tadao Ando, set to open during Australian summer, on November 16, 2023. Reflecting the architect’s architectural approach, the design unveiled the “use of striking geometric interventions in nature and […] concrete.” Once ready, the intervention will become the architect’s first commission in Australia. Created as a new gathering place situated within Melbourne's cultural and botanical garden precinct, MPavilion 10 responds directly to the park's surroundings by emphasizing spatial purity and utilizing the geometric shapes of circles and squares.
For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Pavilion of Ukraine presents an exhibition titled “Before the Future,” focusing on the paradox of “building a future from a collapsing present.” The intervention reimagines two spaces, one in Arsenale and one in Giardini, to evoke protective structures that have become emblematic of feelings of safety while under threat for Ukrainian society. The curatorial team, composed of Iryna Miroshnykova and Oleksii Petrov, of the Kyiv-based architectural office ФОРМА, and Borys Filonenko, independent curator, art critic, and lecturer, set out to work with specialists from numerous fields to further explore the theme “Laboratory of the Future.”
The Kingdom of Bahrain announced its participation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia with a pavilion exhibition titled “Sweating Assets.” Curated by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi, the exhibition highlights the relationship between the extreme heat and humidity that characterizes Bahrain and the inherent need for comfort. The curators aim to show how the necessary cooling infrastructure can be maximized through adaptive means and resource management while reducing its negative impact on the environment.
The National Pavilion of Ireland will present an exhibition titled “In Search of Hy-Brasil” at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The pavilion set out to explore diverse cultures, communities, and experiences of Ireland’s remote islands in the search for new ways of inhabiting the world. A team of five architects has been selected as the curators of the exhibition: Peter Carroll, Peter Cody, Elizabeth Hatz, Mary Laheen, and Joseph Mackey. The pavilion will be open to the public from May 20th to November 26th, 2023; afterward, the installation will tour Ireland in 2024, bringing voices from peripheral locations into mainstream conversations around our global future.
Since its launch in 2000, the Serpentine Pavilion has been providing renowned and emerging architects with a platform for design experimentation, becoming an important display of contemporary architecture. As we approach the inauguration date of the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion, designed by Lina Ghotmeh and titled “À Table", French for sitting together to eat, we look back at the last six editions of the famous annual structure.
For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, The Albanian Pavilion set out to respond to the theme “The Laboratory of the Future” with the exhibition “Untimely Meditations or: How We Learn to Live in Synthesized Realities.” The project seeks to introduce and understand new typologies of civic spaces by repurposing the rendering engine as a mechanism for exploration. The curatorial team is composed of architects Martin Gjoleka, and Era Merkuri, exhibiting together with architect Ani Marku and 3D digital artist Geraldo Prendushi.
For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Lithuanian Pavilion will present an exhibition titled “Children’s Forest Pavilion”, curated by Jurga Daubaraitė, Egija Inzule, and Jonas Žukauskas. The intervention aims to become a playscape, acknowledging the unique perspectives through which children observe and interact with their environment. The project strives to explain the ecosystem of the forest, bringing together works and findings developed in parallel to outdoor activities held with children in the woodlands of Lithuania and Finland. Environmental educators, activists, architects and foresters will discuss the idea of forests as negotiated spaces where all actors play an important role. The Pavilion will be open from May 20th until November 26th, 2023.
ARCH+ and Summacumfemmer Büro Juliane Greb have been selected to curate the German pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia for their concept Open for Maintenance / Wegen Umbau geöffnet. Commissioned by the German Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development, and Building, the pavilion is dedicated to exploring matters of care, repair, and maintenance. The concept also aims to shed light on contemporary debates over the existing building stock and the social practice of maintaining urban fabric. The 18th International Architecture Exhibition will be held from May 20th until November 26th, 2023.
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