Top 10 Standout Pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale

Over the last three days, the News Pulse team has been present onsite at the Venice Architecture Biennale Here are their selections for the top national spots. pavilions from this year's event.

Estonia: Allow me to heat things up for you.

Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, and Helena Männä, architects, have enveloped an ancient structure along the Venetian waterfront in vivid white insulating panels as part of this year’s Estonian Pavilion exhibition.

These fibre cement-covered panels are copies of those now being employed to clad some of Estonia's Soviet-era residential areas – a solution the team considers merely a temporary band-aid.

Through this striking contrast of materials in Venice, their aim is to foster discussion about meeting Europe’s energy goals in a manner that better respects the design of residential buildings and those who live within them.

Serbia: Unraveling

Large swathes of wool, crafted through manual work as well as robotic weaving, hang delicately from the ceiling inside the Serbian pavilion and gradually become undone due to motors driven by solar panels.

By the time the Biennale concludes, the installation will have been fully taken apart, with the wool returned to its original state as 125 balls of yarn.

This work delves into the concept of cyclical design within architecture along with examining the boundaries and interactions between natural and artificial intelligence.

Denmark: Build of Site

Those visiting the Danish Pavilion might be taken aback to discover that the structure has become accessible even as refurbishment activities continue.

This strategic choice was made by curator Søren Philmann, who saw the recent Biennale as a chance to implement essential upgrades to the building from the 1950s. His aim is to highlight the significance and possibilities of restoration and repurposing in architectural design.

Philmann told The News Pulse, “The architecture of tomorrow may not be about relentless growth, but rather focusing on our existing structures.” He added, “This offers an opportunity to uncover the unpolished depth and untapped possibilities that typically remain concealed beneath the sleek facades with which we are all too familiar.”

Australia: Home

Titled "Home," a crescent-shaped earth wall with an integrated seating area encircles a sandy ritualistic zone positioned centrally within the Australian pavilion.

Around the installation, indigenous knowledge systems, cultural practices, and designs were showcased in exhibitions that attracted over 100 architecture and design students from 11 universities throughout Australia.

Every participant was prompted to reflect on their definition of home.

Netherlands: Sidelined

The transformation of this year’s Dutch Pavilion takes the form of an unconventional sports bar. Instead of serving as a place that promotes discord and separation, it is conceived as a lighthearted environment where each participant, group, or supporter holds equal value.

The aim is to provide a perspective through which guests can envision "inclusive, varied, and creative architectures for alternative futures," particularly during an era marked by growing social disintegration.

Geology of British Restoration

Intending to delve into topics connected with colonialism, urban development, and mineral extraction, the British Pavilion titled 'Geology of Britannic Repair' was conceived.

A collection of designs aimed to bridge the gap between structure and nature, featuring a bead-covered curtain draped over the edifice. This decorative overlay consisted of bigger orbs crafted from biomass refuse pressed into bricks combined with clay, supported by finer red glass beads.

Canada: Picoplanktonic

Drawing inspiration from the work of architect Andrea Shin Ling at ETH Zurich, this year’s Canadian pavilion showcased extraterrestrial-inspired constructions covered with living Cyanobacteria. These microorganisms capture carbon directly from the atmosphere.

Entitled "Picoplanktonics," the installation was developed by the architectural collective known as Living Room Collective to demonstrate potential methods for bioconstructing structures in years to come.

For bacterial growth, lattice structures were 3D printed, accompanied by small specimens displayed inside glass containers. Additionally, two sizable columns rose up from shallow basins.

USA: Porch: A Design of Kindness

The US Pavilion sought to investigate how porches embody an iconic element of American architectural design by incorporating a serpentine porch structure. mass-timber A canopy positioned in front of its neoclassical structure.

Entitled "Porch: An Architecture of Generosity," the wooden canopy installation and exhibit within the current pavilion structure were curated by Susan Chin, Peter MacKeith, and Rod Bigelow.

Spain: Architectures for Balanced Territories

The Spanish pavilion hosts an array of models and exhibits curated this year by Roi Salgueiro Barrio and Manuel Bouzas Barcala as part of the biennale.

Spanning six galleries, with a main area highlighting 16 contemporary architectural projects, the exhibit presents findings centered on reducing carbon emissions within Spain’s building sector.

The five secondary spaces examine the way the topic connects to materials, energy, labor, waste, and emissions.

Switzerland: The definitive design is established by the architect present onsite.

The objective of the Swiss pavilion is to highlight Lisbeth Sachs, among the earliest women to register as an architect in Switzerland, by imagining how her design would have shaped the appearance of the pavilion building.

Initially conceived by Bruno Giacometti, who was contemporaries with Sachs, the pavilion underwent a redesign featuring white curtains alongside grey timber walls intended to mimic the appearance of concrete.

The Venice Architecture Biennale occurs between 10 May and 23 November 2025. See The News PulseEvents Guide For all the up-to-date details you require to join the event, along with a compilation of other architectural and design happenings occurring globally.

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