As the doors to the Venice Architecture Biennale swing open this weekend, Monocle offers a glimpse inside the national pavilions set within the historic Biennale Gardens. Also known as the Giardini della Biennale, these gardens house permanent pavilions in which countries from across the globe present architectural innovations and ideas that respond to pressing industry concerns. Here, we preview some of the must-see contributions for 2025.

‘Build of Site’, Denmark
One means of addressing carbon emissions from new construction projects is by reusing existing resources. It’s an appropriate notion for the Danish Pavilion to explore, given that it is currently undergoing renovation. The Scandinavian nation’s curators have jumped on the opportunity with Build of Site, an exhibition that mimics a paused construction site, making use of materials that have been sourced from the scene itself to provide temporary walls, furniture and flooring. “Everything you see was in the building already,” says curator Søren Pihlmann. “I want people to understand that this is a method that you can use universally. There’s a huge potential with reuse that we aren’t exploring.”

‘Home’, Australia
The Australian Pavilion draws inspiration from the storytelling traditions of its Aboriginal people, known as “yarning”. Featuring a curved earth-and-plaster wall and bench – a physical form that encourages dialogue – the space invites visitors to look at ways in which an Indigenous understanding of landscape can be shared with Western approaches to architecture. “It’s about coming together and telling stories about who you are and what’s important to you,” says Michael Mossman, one of the exhibition’s seven First Nation co-curators. “And then it’s about listening very deeply and carefully to what the people around you are saying.”

‘GBR – Geology of Britannic Repair’, UK
The British Pavilion has been radically reimagined by a UK-Kenyan curatorial team consisting of British writer Owen Hopkins, professor Kathryn Yusoff and Nairobi-based Cave Bureau’s co-founders Karanja and Stella Mutegi. Under the title GBR – Geology of Britannic Repair, the exhibition looks to reconcile the pavilion’s colonial past. To do so, it presents architecture as an “earth practice” that has the potential to rebuild connections between people, ecology and land. Inside, visitors encounter six installations, including a woven rattan structure, which is a life-size replica of a section within Kenya’s Shimoni Slave Caves.

‘STRESSTEST’, Germany
The German Pavilion tackles urban climate change head-on with contrasting “stress” and “de-stress” rooms. In the “stress” room, a sweaty, claustrophobic atmosphere is created by artificially heated, ceiling-mounted mats, replicating the unpleasant nature of an urban heat wave. Directly across from this, the curators offer respite in a bright “de-stress” room with three common hornbeam trees standing in large white pots as a reminder of simple strategies that are available for urban cooling. “We wanted to create an uncomfortable atmosphere to remind people that there is a real threat,” says co-curator Nicola Borgmann. “But we don’t want them to just be shocked. They should be motivated and inspired because we also show the solutions too.”

‘Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion’, South Korea
“Little Toad, Little Toad” is both the name of a Korean folk song for children and the title of the exhibition at South Korea’s national pavilion. Commemorating 30 years since the building’s construction, the curation takes a self-reflective approach and looks at the structure’s footing in the Biennale Gardens. With the “toad” as an unseen guide of the space, visitors walk through several small displays celebrating the pavilion and nature. Highlights include a large bed dedicated to its resident cat and an installation that casts shadows on the floor, mimicking the dappled light that comes through the trees surrounding the building.

You can visit the Venice Biennale’s 19th International Architecture Exhibition at the Giardini della Biennale, Calle Giazzo, Venice. The showcase opens to the public on Saturday 10 May and runs until 23 November 2025. 

Opening to the public tomorrow, the Venice Biennale’s 19th International Architecture Exhibition is the world’s most significant showcase dedicated to the discipline. Monocle had an early look at how its 750 participants – presenting their work in pavilions in the Biennale Gardens and inside the grand halls of the Arsenale building – are engaging with curator Carlo Ratti’s brief. The Italian architect and engineer’s ambition is to present architecture that embraces a combination of artificial, natural and human intelligence. “It’s about hybridising different types of knowledge,” he tells The Monocle Minute.

Bettering conversations about architecture emerged as a golden thread running through many of the works. There are straightforward examples: the interior of the Australia Pavilion features a curving earth-and-plaster wall, a physical form that encourages dialogue. “It’s about coming together and telling stories about who you are and what’s important to you,” says Michael Mossman, one of the Australian exhibition’s curators. “And then it’s about listening deeply and carefully to what the people around you are saying.”
 
There have also been more abstract takes. Switzerland created a conversation between two architectural styles by tactfully (and tastefully) inserting a radial structure into its boxy national pavilion; Japan, meanwhile, examined the history of its own pavilion as it prepares for a grand renovation of the building, which dates to 1956. A strong theme of listening to local cultures has also been on display: a joint UK-Kenyan effort focuses on traditional architectural forms from former British colonies, while Qatar has built a structure that delves into how hospitality and inclusivity shape architectural spaces across the Middle East and South Asia.

These diverse responses highlight a move towards an architecture that is more attuned to human and community needs through dialogue at all scales – be they at an interpersonal or a societal level. While architects must remain discerning when it comes to collaborative processes (as the adage goes, “A camel is a horse designed by committee”), this biennale serves as a reminder that their discipline thrives not in isolation but by tapping into the collective intelligence of those it serves. Conversation is the first and most fundamental building block in any design project.

Monisse is Monocle’s design editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.