Venice Architecture Biennale Reveals Title, Theme for 2025 Edition

Carlo Ratti, curator of the forthcomingVenice Architecture Biennale, and Biennale president Pietrangelo Buttafuoco have announced the title and theme for the event’s nineteenth iteration, set to take place May 10–November 23, 2025. Titled “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective,” the Biennale will connect disciplines including art, engineering, biology, and data science to urban design and climate change. The exhibition, which is meant to conjure a form of collective intelligence that looks beyond contemporary AI, “will be about the built environment and the many disciplines that shape it,” said Ratti in a statement. ”Architecture is at the center, but not alone.”

Ratti further noted that the event’s title is typically announced in both English and Italian but that “in 2025 it will be condensed into a single word for both languages via the common Latin precedent:intelligens.” He explained that the word “is linked to the modern term ‘intelligence,’ but it also evokes a wider set of associated meanings. In fact, the final syllable, ‘gens’ is Latin for ‘people.’”

“The built environment is one of the largest contributors to atmospheric emissions, placing architecture among the main culprits in the degradation of our planet,” Ratti continued. “As the climate crisis accelerates, must we resign ourselves to this role, or are we still able to offer solutions, substantial and non-cosmetic, effective and quick to achieve?” Participating countries are encouraged to address the common prompt of “One place, one solution,” showcasing local ingenuity.

The Biennale will be arranged under four rubrics: “Transdisciplinarity,” “Living Lab,” “Space for Ideas,” and “Circularity Protocol.” The “Transdisciplinary” section will focus on collaborative projects between architects and those working in other fields, while the “Living Lab” will step outside the Central Pavilion, which will be closed for renovation during the event, presenting interacting forms of intelligence across Venice and in the outdoor areas of the exhibition grounds. “Space for Ideas” is already up and running in the form of a platform on the Biennale’s website where visitors can encounter ideas “fostering an expansive heterogeneity of voices, visions, and suggestions.” The “Circularity Protocol” section “aims to set unprecedented goals for circularity. A Circularity Manifesto will be developed to define clear directions and a new standard for the future of cultural events.”