Every two years, Venice’s cultural fabric, ever-changing to accommodate its unremitting creative calendar, becomes home to one of the most influential events in the global architecture community—the Biennale Architettura. From May 10 – November 23, 2025, the city will once again simmer with innovation and creativity (and a fair bit of discernment) as architects, designers and thinkers converge to showcase and debate their boldest visions for the future. Steered by Carlo Ratti, the 19th Biennale seeks to tackle today’s most pressing issues—from climate change to the evolving yet unfixed role of architecture in society—under the curatorial theme and thought umbrella, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.

As Venice’s iconic pavilions—both longstanding and newer, more transient ones—across the Giardini and the Arsenale are transformed into immersive experiences fostering global dialogue in the main exhibition, an array of satellite exhibitions and projects will sprout throughout the city. These collateral events enrich the Biennale’s spinal narrative through diverse perspectives, deepening the conversations around architecture’s role in sustainability, technology and cultural resilience. From reimagining coexistence with nature to tackling concurrent climate crises and its many connotations across different parts of the world, these design events aim to catalyse dialogue, creativity and collaboration, beyond the provocations of national pavilions and the curator’s exhibitions, thus opening up space for prestige projects, institutional intervention and more experimental outings that aren’t necessarily confined to the original infrastructure of the Biennale. Diving into this living laboratory of endless possibilities, STIR enlists the most thought-provoking collateral events at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025—each set to unveil a distinctive vision of the future of architecture and the world it shapes.

Catalonia in Venice_Water Parliaments: Projective Ecosocial Architectures

Docks Cantiere Cucchini

Expanding on the United Nations’ proclamation that emphasised the strong correlations between the climate crisis and recurrent water crises across the world, Water Parliaments: Projective Ecosocial Architectures will interpret architecture as a multispecies practice indicative of the interdependence that links humans, non-humans and water systems. The exhibition, commissioned by Institut Ramon Llull, will plumb global water crises and ecological challenges, focusing on the Catalan, Valencian and Balearic regions. The project, under the curatorial guidance of Eva Franch i Gilabert, Mireia Luzárraga and Alejandro Muiño, takes into account over 100 local voices, from scientists to farmers, in multidisciplinary workshops to explore sustainable water use and multispecies coexistence. At Venice's Docks Cantieri Cucchini, the event will stage a Water Parliament, fortified by narrative films, speculative prototypes and immersive installations eliciting reflection and action on water's role in shaping the environment.

NON-Belief: Taiwan Intelligens of Precarity

Palazzo delle Prigioni

Drawing from the theme of the Biennale Architettura 2025 and Robert Smithson’s theory of ‘non-sites,’ National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA) will present NON-Belief: Taiwan Intelligens of Precarity. The exhibition curated by National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) examines Taiwan's unique balance (as well as the inherent tension) between ‘belief’ and ‘non-belief' in the context of rapid technological, ecological and social transformation. The exhibition explores Taiwan’s precarious geology, high-speed development, and the tension between technology and ecology through projects by architects, researchers and designers. The installation design, models and interactive displays, reflecting on Taiwan's resilience and adaptation in a volatile world, focus on three themes—Efficiency: NON-Belief in High-Speed, Technology: NON-Belief in Chips and Control: NON-Belief in Sensory-Motor.

The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel

Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Isola di San Giorgio Maggiore

Thirty years after French Architect Jean Nouvel redefined exhibition-making with Fondation Cartier’s historic building on Boulevard Raspail, Paris, he is invited, once again, to transform a mid-19th-century Haussmannian building next to the Louvre. At the Biennale Architettura 2025, The Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel will present a dynamic vision of architecture as an evolving cultural environment. The exhibition will stage a large-scale sectional model of the Fondation Cartier’s new spaces, designed by Nouvel, highlighting adjustable platforms that create versatile environments for multidisciplinary programming. Projections, photographs, architectural plans and prototypes evoke the experience of the interiors, focusing on elements like retractable ceilings and mechanical guardrails. The scenography reflects architecture’s ability to adapt and inspire creativity across art, performance and technology.

The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology

Palazzo Diedo - Berggruen Arts & Culture, Cannaregio

The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology will dissect the role of architecture in addressing global crises through two leading research initiatives: Antikythera’s Planetary Sapience and MIT Architecture’s Climate Work: Un/Worlding the Planet. To be hosted at Palazzo Diedo across two floors, the architecture exhibition will bring together planetary computation and climate-conscious design. Antikythera redefines planetary systems through technology and philosophy, showcasing historical artefacts and AI-driven simulations, while MIT presents 40 projects reimagining sustainable architecture. Together, they will challenge visitors to rethink the roles of architecture, technology and humanity in shaping a sustainable future for the planet.

unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION

Giardini

unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION, helmed by Virginia Tech Honors College and curated by Dr. Enric Ruiz Geli and Dr. Anne-Lise Velez, perceives the relationship between humans, nature and sustainability through an innovative, transdisciplinary approach. The exhibition is rooted in Venice’s historical traditions of adapting to wetlands, exemplified by beekeepers moving hives during flooding, symbolising human-nature synergy. Each pillar or theme of the collateral event represents an intrinsic approach and value. unEarthed is a metaphor for uncovering transformative solutions through collaborative work, alluding to discoveries that shape noteworthy solutions; Second Nature speaks of the project’s hope to create a ‘second nature’ for Venice through the introduction of over 60 plant species and 10 pollinators; PolliNATION echoes the ideas of preservation and restoration, aiming for global environmental awareness to spread like pollen. Student and faculty projects from Virginia Tech’s Honors College will explore topics such as sustainability, social change and community engagement.

Intelligens. Talent. EUmies Awards Young Talent 2025

The exhibition Intelligens. Talent. EUmies Awards Young Talent 2025 presents 12 finalist projects from 11 schools in seven countries, addressing themes such as housing, climate resilience, youth and intergenerational equity. These works, grounded in rigorous research, span rural to urban contexts and reflect diverse academic approaches to architecture, landscape design and urban design. The initiative supports recently graduated talents and promotes global academic exchange. Winners will be announced on June 19, 2025, at Palazzo Michiel, and all nominated works will be published and archived.