When Carlo Ratti was first named the curator of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, it was almost guaranteed that technology would be a major theme of the seven-month event (which opens to the public on May 10). Instead, Ratti, who is synonymous with the Senseable City Lab that he set up at MIT, is more interested in the broader theme of intelligence – in all of its myriad forms. His curated exhibition explores the overlap of A.I. with time-honoured methods for conceptualizing and building structures and entire cities. It includes systems of collaboration nurtured at the grassroots level. It presents natural materials as futuristic building blocks. Even if the biennale is symbolically weighted by a new right-leaning direction (and a focus significantly calibrated away from the decolonization theme of Lesley Lokko’s biennale two years ago), it promises to engage with the key concerns of architecture, urbanism and the collective in meaningful ways.

Here is a snapshot of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, from the main exhibition to the national pavilions and the expansive offsite programming.

Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective: The Main Exhibition

With a staggering 750+ participants – from architects to climate scientists and chefs – Intelligens aims to bring together “various forms of intelligence.” Taking place in the Corderie, the exhibition opens with a stark confrontation – “global temperatures rise while global populations fall” – and a series of critical questions: What will tomorrow’s climate look like? How will shifting populations reshape the world? From here the three thematic themes of Natural Intelligence, Artificial Intelligence and Collective Intelligence unfold.

Among the showcased projects of Natural Intelligence are The Other Side of the Hill, whichexplores “the microbial communities that balance resource consumption.” It’s curated by physicist Geoffrey West, biologist Roberto Kolter, and architectural theorists Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley and visualized by Patricia Urquiola. Living Structure, led by Kengo Kuma and Associates, Sekisui House – Kuma Lab & Iwasawa Lab, and Ejiri Structural Engineers, explores how traditional Japanese building techniques can be fused with A.I. to create a hybrid approach to sustainable construction; Matter Makes Sense, meanwhile, delves into bio-concrete, banana fibre, graphene and more, as materials of the future. Notably, the biennale itself is designed for circularity, with exhibition panels made of recycled wood that will be shredded and recycled again after the event. 

The Artificial Intelligence section, as you’d expect, imagines how robotics, engineering, and data science might ultimately shape our built environment and social systems. It explores A.I. in its many guises, from the positive to the discomfiting – whether the efforts of Ukraine-based researchers to “use computer vision to map and rebuild cities destroyed by war” or how “next-gen humanoid robots” will change the “evolving role of human labour.” The Collective Intelligence returns the spotlight to community projects. It includes Tosin Oshinowo’s research on Lagos’s informal markets; and the interactive feature Speakers’ Corner – a physical platform designed by Christopher Hawthorne, Johnston Marklee, and Florencia Rodriguez that hosts panels, workshops and discussions.

National Pavilions

U.S.: PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity

A large-scale porch – designed by co-curators Marlon Blackwell, Stephen Burks, Julie Bargmann, and Maura Rockcastle – will welcome visitors at the U.S. Pavilion. The exhibition, PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, explores the structure as a representation of the United States, one that is  “at once social and environmental, tectonic and performative, hospitable and intimate, generous and democratic.” Featuring 50 curated projects with an emphasis on “civic building for the greater good, founded on a generous architectural diplomacy of creative expression, representing the best of the nation’s past, present, and future,” the pavilion promises to be a fascinating locus of conversation about how architecture could bolster a powerful ethos of inclusivity when the politics of the moment represents a backlash to progressive mores.

Canada: Picoplanktonics

Can we work with nature to create spaces that remediate the planet rather than exploit it? That is the question posed in the Canada Pavilion, curated by The Living Room Collective, made up of Andrea Shin Ling, Nicholas Hoban, Vincent Lee and Clayton Lee. It is driven by Shin Ling’s research at ETH Zurich, which pairs marine cyanobacteria (picoplankton) – an early life form that decreased atmospheric carbon levels – with technological innovation. The exhibition includes a series of large-scale 3D printed structures embedded with live Synechococcus PCC 7002 (a species of single-cell cyanobacteria), made on a first-of-its-kind bio-fabrication platform capable of printing living structures at architectural scale.

Spain: Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium

A robust 16 projects from across Spain animate the exhibition Internalities, curated by Roi Salgueiro and Manuel Bouzas. Together, they show how Spanish architects are creating works that are connected to the land, and that make strides to decarbonize construction. They include Barbés UVigo by Abalo Alonso Arquitectos;Rehabilitación de cooperativa agrícola para espacio polivalente y cultural en Flix by Camps Felips Arquitecturia; Raw Rooms. Casas de Tierra. 43 Viviendas sociales en Ibiza by Peris+Toral Arquitectes; and The day after house by TAKK.

Türkiye: Yerebasan / Grounded

Grounded, as its name implies, foregrounds soilas a resource that, while often overlooked, is “vital to our understanding of civilizations, ecosystems and the essence of sustainable living.” Soil samples from Türkiye are presented as “both an ecological system and a living archive of natural and human history” while the country’s rich heritage, archaeological sites and sustainable building practices are showcased alongside them.

France: Vivre Avec / Living With 

A lightweight structure constructed from reused materials will host France’s exhibition even as the pavilion itself is under renovation. Vivre Avec / Living With will spotlight some 50 projects that together “explore architecture’s capacity to confront global challenges—such as climate change, conflict, and instability—by drawing on a combination of natural, human and artificial intelligence.” Featured in the mix, Canadian firm WZMH Architects presents Speedstac, a prefab modular precast solution developed through its R&D lab, sparkbird. WZMH is currently working with Ukrainian architect Alexander Fil to integrate Speedstac into a range of new projects—from homes to schools—in order to mitigate the crisis of displacement caused by the ongoing war.  

Latvia: Landscape of Defence

The geopolitical realities of NATO’s eastern front – and how military exercises overlap with civilian life along the borders of Latvia, Russia and Belarus – are the focus of the Latvian Pavilion. Curated by Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby, and designed by Latvian architecture firms SAMPLING and NOMAD, the timely exhibition will certainly raise important questions and invite visitors to “reconsider the notion of ‘border’ in times of geopolitical instability.”

Singapore: RASA-TABULA-SINGAPURA

The title of Singapore’s exhibition says it all: “Rasa” (taste), “Tabula” (table), and “Singapura” (Lion City) –  an apt combination for an experience that “reimagines the city as a communal dining table.” The city-state’s “super-diversity” will be explored through architecture, food, and urban design – with interactive exhibits and “urban menus” animating the pavilion throughout the biennale.

Japan: In-Between

Curated by architect Jun Aoki and commissioned by the Japan Foundation, In-Between draws from the Japanese expression ma, which encapsulates how humans and other species ought to be considered on an equal level “transcending the dualism of subject and object.” Through projects by Tamayo Iemura, Asako Fujikura + Takahiro Ohmura, and SUNAKI (Toshikatsu Kiuchi and Taichi Sunayama), the exhibition explores how the distinction between the natural and artificial worlds could be collapsed, allowing for us to better cohabitate with more-than-human life forms.

Other Onsite Exhibitions

Qatar: Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa 

Hospitality is the focus of Qatar’s exhibition – specifically, how its forms are “embodied in the architecture and urban landscapes of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia (MENASA).” Located in the Giardini at the future site of the Qatar Pavilion, a temporary installation by Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari – based on her Community Centre in Doha – sets the scene. The larger exhibition takes place offsite at ACP-Palazzo Franchetti, and features 30 architects (showcased in sections dedicated to the reinvention of the oasis, city housing, community centres, mosques, museums, and gardens), including Minnette de Silva (Sri Lanka), Marina Tabassum and Nabil Haque (Bangladesh), Sameep Padora and Balkrishna Doshi (India), Sumaya Dabbagh (Saudi Arabia), Aziza Chaouni (Morocco) and Diller Scofidio+Renfro (USA), among others.

On Storage at the Applied Arts Pavilion 

Curated by Brendan Cormier, in collaboration with Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, the six-channel film and exhibition On Storage explores how storage – often hidden behind closed doors – forms a major part of architecture projects. The feature coincides with the opening of V&A East Storehouse, the V&A’s storage facility (opening May 31) by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which houses over 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 archives – a collection now open to visitors granted unprecedented access.

In the City

Time. Space. Existence

As part of the recurring Time. Space. Existence group show, which takes place across three venues, Holcim and Chilean architectural practice Elemental present a new prototype that could serve as a model for affordable and scalable housing – one based on Holcim’s sustainable concrete solutions and Elemental’s resilient and affordable housing. Montreal’s Blouin Orzes architectes, meanwhile, will show how their architecture explores the Canadian Arctic; and OOMBRA, out of Philadelphia, demonstrates its approach to meaningful place-making.

Nature Trilogy at Castello 2145

Alongside its screening of “Nature Trilogy” in the Corderie at the Arsenale, China’s OPEN Architecture also presents a special viewing of the three-screen video in Castello 2145. Directed by Zhang Nan, it traces three projects – UCCA Dune Art Museum, Chapel of Sound, and Sun Tower – that “reclaim architecture’s power to awaken the senses, re-orienting us in a world engulfed in tension and crises.”

Architecture in Transition: from Heritage to Urban Futures at Palazzo Zorzi 

Ahead of the UIA World Congress of Architects 2026, which will take place in Barcelona, this gathering presents its major themes, and will be attended by senior representatives from Spain’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU), the Generalitat de Catalunya, and Barcelona City Council; as well as representatives from the International Union of Architects (UIA) and other regulatory bodies. 

Lines at Museo archeologico nazionale di Venezia – the Cortile dell’Agrippa, Piazzetta San Marco, 17

Kengo Kito’s colourful installation marks the reopening of the historic entrance of the Cortile dell’Agrippa in Piazzetta San Marco. The museum’s original route, established between 1924 and 1926 by Carlo Anti, is also restored and a new ticket office is introduced – all in order to establish a whole new institution under Italy’s Ministry of Culture: the Musei archeologici nazionali di Venezia e della Laguna (National Archaeological Museums of Venice and the Lagoon). Entitled Lines and commissioned by anonymous art project, Kito’s temporary work establishes “a dialogue with Venetian cultural heritage and Renaissance architecture, sparking a reflection on the interaction between art and public space.”

Gateway to Venice’s Waterways at Palazzo Pisani Moretta

Norman Foster Foundation (along with Michael Mauer and Ragnar Schulte of Porsche, Miguel Kreisler of Empty+Bau and Christopher Hornzee-Jones of Aerotrope) presents a new concept for the future for Venice’s relationship with its famed canals, which it proposes redesigning with “sustainable acquatic mobility as a blueprint for the future.” In another canal-themed installation, this one at the Arsenale Lagoon, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Aaron Betsky, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI and chef Davide Oldani will turn the waters of Venice into a symbol of transformation — purifying it to create “the best espresso in Italy, proving that environmental challenges can be woven into the fabric of daily life.”

SMAC at Procuratie Vecchie, Piazza San Marco

SMAC, the pioneering new arts centre located in the Procuratie Vecchie, recently restored by David Chipperfield Architects, will open to the public and present a dynamic programme spanning visual arts, architecture, fashion, technology, and film. The inaugural exhibition focuses on Australian architect Harry Seidler and Korean landscape artist Jung Youngsun.

The Holy See: Opera Aperta

Hosted in the Complex of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Castello, and curated by Marina Otero Verzier and Giovanna Zabotti, the Holy See’s exhibition embraces the dynamism of a construction site: “an ongoing process in which everyone is invited to collaborate.”