As the 19th International Architecture Exhibition prepares to close its doors on November 23, the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale continues to offer profound insights into contemporary architectural discourse. Curated by Carlo Ratti under the compelling theme "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.," this year's exhibition has brought together more than 750 participants across national pavilions, collateral events, and city-wide installations throughout the six-month run.
The Biennale's framework examines interconnected forms of intelligence, positioning architecture as a critical tool for navigating climate instability, evolving technologies, and emerging collaborative practices. This thematic approach has encouraged pavilions to explore diverse perspectives on how natural, artificial, and collective intelligence can reshape architectural thinking and practice in the 21st century.
During the opening period of the exhibition, ArchDaily conducted an extensive series of on-site interviews that capture the breadth of perspectives defining this year's edition. These conversations included discussions with the curatorial team behind the Belgian Pavilion, Søren Pihlmann representing the Danish Pavilion, Andrea Faraguna from the Bahrain Pavilion, and the collaborative curatorial teams of both the Lebanese and British Pavilions.
Each pavilion approached Ratti's themes from distinctly different cultural, geographic, and disciplinary contexts, creating a rich tapestry of architectural exploration. The Belgian Pavilion focused on building microclimates and environmental responsiveness, while the Danish presentation emphasized helping existing structures reconfigure themselves for contemporary needs. Meanwhile, the Bahrain Pavilion explored new opportunities for expanding architectural practice.
The Lebanese Pavilion took a particularly poignant approach, examining the fundamental relationship between architecture and land, with curators Lynn Chamoun, Elias Tamer, Shereen Doummar, and Edouard Souhaid presenting work that considers landscape and memory. The British Pavilion, curated by Kabage Karanja and Kathryn Yusoff, addressed themes of destruction and opportunity, exploring how sites of challenge can become catalysts for innovation.
These interviews collectively trace a spectrum of positions ranging from natural intelligence applications and circular material strategies to examinations of landscapes marked by memory, extraction, and repair. The discussions highlight how contemporary practitioners are expanding the traditional tools, responsibilities, and imaginative possibilities that define modern architectural practice.
The Chinese Pavilion, curated by Ma Yansong, emphasized the intersection of human experience, nature, and emotion in architectural design. This approach reflected the broader Biennale theme of exploring how different forms of intelligence can inform and transform architectural thinking and practice.
As the exhibition enters its final days, recent critical reflections have revisited the various participants' proposals for small-scale responses to climate challenges. These analyses have outlined notable national contributions across the exhibition while examining both the ambitions and limitations of Ratti's curatorial framework.
The interviews reveal how pavilions have grappled with questions of sustainability, technology integration, and community engagement. Many presentations focused on practical solutions for environmental challenges, while others explored theoretical frameworks for understanding architecture's role in an increasingly complex world.
Taken together, these diverse perspectives bring the themes of the 2025 edition into sharper focus, offering visitors and critics alike a consolidated understanding of the questions and positions that have shaped this year's architectural discourse. The conversations demonstrate how the Biennale continues to serve as a crucial platform for international dialogue about architecture's evolving role in society.
As the exhibition approaches its conclusion, the impact of these varied approaches to the theme of "Intelligens" will likely continue to influence architectural thinking well beyond Venice, providing a foundation for future explorations of how natural, artificial, and collective intelligence can inform the built environment.
