2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
15/05/2025
The Venice Architecture Biennale, a key event that captures the pulse of architecture each year, once again approaches architecture not merely as a building art, but as a complex form of relationship with nature, society, and technology. The curator of the 2025 edition is MIT professor Carlo Ratti, and this year’s theme is: "Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective."
Derived from the Latin word for “to understand,” Intelligens also contains the word gens, meaning “people.” This theme invites us not only to reflect on artificial intelligence, but also to consider natural intelligence—the wisdom of nature—and collective intelligence. Ratti believes that architecture can be transformed through the combination of these three forms of intelligence, and the exhibited projects respond to this multi-layered theme.
Projects Exploring the Boundaries of Creativity
This year, the Biennale hosts over 750 participants and more than 300 projects. In the main venues such as Giardini and Arsenale, AI-assisted designs, spaces created with biological materials, robot-constructed structures, and pavilions offering solutions to global issues take center stage.
The Golden Lion was awarded to the Canal Café project, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. This project impressively combines a water purification system with a social meeting point—an espresso bar—demonstrating how architecture can serve as both a functional and social tool.
The Silver Lion went to Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500, an interactive analytical work by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler. Questioning the historical relationship between artificial intelligence and systems of power, the project stood out as one of the most thought-provoking works of the Biennale.
Pavilions
The Bahrain Pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation with its project Heatwave, which merges traditional cooling techniques with contemporary architecture. The project explores natural methods of creating coolness in hot climates and questions the roles architecture can play in addressing the climate crisis.
lmage:https://www.archdaily.com/
The Rolex Pavilion is one of the standout projects that successfully merges the concept of sustainability with luxury. Built using recycled wood, terrazzo flooring, and Murano glass, the structure places environmental awareness at its core—both through its material choices and the content of its exhibition.
lmage:https://www.rolex.com/tr/perpetual-initiatives/perpetual-arts/architecture/biennale-di-venezia
Türkiye Pavilion: Grounded
Organized by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), the Türkiye Pavilion is represented at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with the project Grounded. Curated by Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa, the project approaches the concept of soil as an ecosystem, a form of natural intelligence, a living archive, and a supportive model.
Image:https://www.archdaily.com/1023445/the-turkiye-pavilion-announces-grounded-exhibition-and-curators-for-the-2025-venice-architecture-biennale
Selected from among 48 submissions through a two-stage open call, Grounded embraces architecture as an interdisciplinary perspective. The exhibition aims to build a bridge between the past and the future through a narrative supported by artistic viewpoints, local building techniques, and scientific documentation.
Offering visitors a sensory experience, the pavilion highlights soil as a source of life, memory, and knowledge—revealing traces of past civilizations and the possibilities of living in harmony with nature.
Where Is Architecture Headed?
The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale raises many important questions about the future of architecture. Does artificial intelligence limit or expand architectural creativity? How can nature be reimagined as a design partner? What role can collective intelligence play in shaping our spaces?
Images: Wallpaper Magazine
All of these questions are explored not only through the exhibited works but also through the discursive spaces created within the Biennale. By emphasizing the intellectual dimension of architecture, the Biennale offers an exhibition that is experienced not only with the eyes, but also with the mind.
Where Does Intelligence Belong in Architecture?
The Intelligens theme demonstrates that architecture can emerge not only as a physical product, but also in collaboration with data, nature, collective memory, and artificial intelligence. This year’s Biennale shows us that the future of architecture should be sought not only in technology, but also in nature, communities, and collective thinking.
References / Sources:
World Architecture – Bahrain and Diller Scofidio + Renfro Win Golden Lions
İKSV – Türkiye Pavilion to Present Grounded
