The president of La Biennale di Venezia Pietrangelo Buttafuoco and exhibition curator Carlo Ratti have jointly announced the theme for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
“Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.” will be the theme for the 19th edition of the International Architecture Exhibition. The curator of the 2025 exhibition, Carlo Ratti, explained the title of the theme is usually announced both in English and in Italian. However, this time it has been combined into a single word for both languages via the Latin phrase: intelligens.
“The title Intelligens 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”. A new, fictional root emerges, suggesting a future of intelligence that is inclusive, multiple, and imaginative beyond today’s limiting focus on AI,” said Ratti.
As always, the built environment and the disciplines that shape it will be at the heart of the biennale program but it will not be the only field that is explored or presented. Various works and concepts related to the fields of art, engineering, biology, data science, social and political sciences, and planetary systems will also be exhibited – with each presentation linking to the materiality of urban space.
The objects, installations and plans to be displayed will be arranged into categories of natural, artificial, collective and combinations thereof.
A published communique announcing the 2025 theme states “The built environment is one of the largest contributors to atmospheric emissions, placing architecture among the main culprits in the degradation of our planet. 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?”
“The exhibition will search for a path forward, proposing that intelligent solutions to pressing problems can take many forms. It will present a collection of design proposals and many other experiments, exploring a definition of “intelligence” as an ability to adapt to the environment with limited resources, knowledge, or power,” it adds.
The biennale will be held across various locations in Venice between 10 May and 23 November 2025, with a pre-opening preview scheduled for 8 and 9 May. To find out more, visit the La Biennale di Venezia website.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
