The 19th International Architecture Exhibition, entitled “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.”, curated by Carlo Ratti and organized by the Biennale di Venezia, will open on Saturday 10 May, and will be open to the general public at the Giardini, the Arsenale and the Forte Marghera until Sunday 23 November 2025.

For the first time, the exhibition is attended by over 750 participants, a total of 66 participating nations that will organize their exhibitions in the historic Pavilions of the Giardini (26), the Arsenale (22) and in the city centre of Venice (15).

«With the venue of the Central Pavilion under renovation in 2025, Venice will not just host the Biennale Architettura—it will become a living laboratory. The city itself – one of the most imperiled on Earth in the face of a changing climate—will serve as the backdrop for a new kind of Exhibition, where installations, prototypes, and experiments are scattered across the Giardini, the Arsenale and other neighborhoods.»

Carlo Ratti, 19th International Architecture Exhibition Curator.

In response to current architectural strategies to address the climate crisis, “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.” calls for architecture to collaborate with all forms of intelligence, with the aim of redirecting the current path of the fight against climate change and rethinking the built environment.

"Architecture has always been a response to a hostile climate. From the earliest "primitive hut," human design has been led by the need for shelter and survival, driven by optimism: our creations have always strived to bridge the gap between a harsh environment and the safe, livable spaces we require.

Today, that dynamic approach is being taken to a new level - as climate becomes less forgiving. In the fires of Los Angeles, in the floods of Valencia and Sherpur, in the droughts of Sicily, we have witnessed first-hand how water and fire are attacking us with unprecedented ferocity. The year 2024 marked a grim milestone as Earth registered its hottest temperatures on record, pushing global averages beyond the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target. In just two years, climate change has accelerated in ways that defy even the best scientific models.

For decades, architecture’s response to the climate crisis has been centered on mitigation—designing to reduce our impact on the climate. But that approach is no longer enough. The time has come for architecture to embrace adaptation: rethinking how we design for an altered world.

Adaptation demands a fundamental shift in our practice. This year’s Exhibition Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. invites different types of intelligence to work together to rethink the built environment. The very Latin title Intelligens contains the word gens (“people”) - inviting us to experiment beyond today’s limited focus on AI and digital technologies.

In the time of adaptation, architecture is at the center and must lead with optimism. In the time of adaptation, architecture needs to draw on all forms of intelligence – natural, artificial, collective. In the time of adaptation, architecture needs to reach out across generations and across disciplines - from the hard sciences to the arts. In the time of adaptation, architecture must rethink authorship and become more inclusive, learning from science.

Architecture must become as flexible and dynamic as the world we are now designing for."

Carlo Ratti, 19th International Architecture Exhibition Curator.

Carlo Ratti, Comisario de la XIXª Exposición Internacional de Arquitectura. Fotografía por Andrea Avezzù. Cortesía por La Biennale di Venezia.
Carlo Ratti, 19th International Architecture Exhibition Curator. Photography by Andrea Avezzù. Courtesy by La Biennale di Venezia.

Intelligens serves as a dynamic laboratory, uniting experts across various forms of intelligence. For the first time, the Exhibition features over 750 participants: architects and engineers, mathematicians and climate scientists, philosophers and artists, chefs and coders, writers and woodcarvers, farmers and fashion designers, and many more. Adaptation demands inclusivity and collaboration.

Curating on such a large scale required a fundamental shift in approach. The selection process has been open and bottom-up, guided by an interdisciplinary curatorial team. The Space for Ideas, our open call for projects from May 7 to June 21, 2024, generated an overwhelming global response. The flood of submissions was both thrilling and daunting, but it allowed us to discover fresh, lesser-known voices that might otherwise have been missed.

The resulting participant pool spans generations—from seasoned professionals still innovating at ninety to recent graduates just beginning their careers. Pritzker Prize winners, former La Biennale di Venezia Curators, Nobel laureates, Royal Professors appear alongside emerging architects and researchers. This inclusion reflects our commitment to a diverse range of perspectives.

Padiglione Centrale Giardini. Fotografía por Francesco Galli. Cortesía por La Biennale di Venezia.
Padiglione Centrale Giardini. Photography by Francesco Galli. Courtesy by La Biennale di Venezia.

This richness of contributions calls for a new approach to authorship. Intelligens challenges the tradition of the architect as the sole creator, with other professionals relegated to supporting roles. We propose a more inclusive authorship model, inspired by scientific research. In the time of adaptation, all voices driving design must be recognized and credited.

In the era of adaptation, La Biennale di Venezia must collaborate with other institutions. Intelligens has forged connections with other global Institutions, the UN's COP30 in Belem, C40, the Davos Baukultur Alliance, the Soft Power Club, and many others. Its public program, GENS, will host a chorus of events and conversations, engaging audiences both large and small.

"The 2025 Exhibition might not be perfect, but it wants to walk the talk. Most Exhibition panels are made of recycled wood - to be shredded at the end of the Biennale Architettura and turned into new materials. Projects like Boonserm Premthada’s Elephant Chapel, which uses recycled elephant dung to create bricks, redefine what is possible, turning nature’s waste into a resource for construction."

Carlo Ratti, 19th International Architecture Exhibition Curator.

Elephant Chapel. Visualización cortesía por La Biennale di Venezia.
Elephant Chapel. Rendering courtesy by La Biennale di Venezia.

Since 2021, La Biennale di Venezia launched a plan to reconsider all of its activities in light of recognized and consolidated principles of environmental sustainability. In 2022 La Biennale obtained the carbon neutrality certification for all the events it held that year. This was made possible by carefully collecting the data on the causes of CO2 emissions generated by the events themselves, and on the adoption of consequent measures. The entire process for achieving, was conducted in compliance with the international standard PAS2060.

For the year 2025, the goal is to obtain the “carbon neutrality” certification in accordance with the new ISO 14068 standard, for all of La Biennale’s scheduled activities: the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, the Theatre, Music and Dance Festivals and, in particular, the 19th International Architecture Exhibition. For all the events, the most important component of the overall carbon footprint involves the mobility of the visitors. In this sense, La Biennale will engage again in 2025 in a communication campaign to raise the awareness of the participating public.

More information

Carlo Ratti Associati (born in 1971 in Turin, Italy) is an international design and innovation office based in Torino, Italy, with branches in New York and London. Drawing on Carlo Ratti’s research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Senseable City Lab, the office is currently involved in many projects across the globe, embracing every scale of intervention – from furniture to urban planning. The work of the practice merges design with cutting-edge digital technologies, so as to contribute to the creation of an architecture “that senses and responds”.

Noteworthy achievements at the urban and architectural scale include the masterplan for a creative hub in the City of Guadalajara, the renovation of the Agnelli Foundation HQ in Torino, the Future Food District at Expo Milano 2015, and the Digital Water Pavilion at Expo Zaragoza 2008. Product design projects range from experimental furniture for Cassina to light installations for Artemide, to responsive seating systems with Vitra.

In all these circumstances, the studio investigated the ways in which new technologies, including digital sensors and portable devices, are changing both the built environment and everyday life. The works of the practice have been featured in publications worldwide, including The New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, BBC, Wired, Boston Globe, Der Spiegel, Corriere della Sera, and Domus. The studio's projects have been exhibited in cultural venues such as the Venice Biennale, New York’s MoMA, Istanbul Design Biennial, and many others.

Carlo Ratti Associati is the only design firm whose works have been featured twice in TIME Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year” list – respectively with the Digital Water Pavilion in 2007 and the Copenhagen Wheel in 2014. In the last years, the office has been involved in the launch of Makr Shakr, a startup producing the world’s first robotic bar system.
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Published on: February 16, 2025
Cite: "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. Biennale Architettura 2025" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/intelligens-natural-artificial-collective-biennale-architettura-2025> ISSN 1139-6415
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