Venice

During the final weeks of the Venice Biennale, let travel curator Dirk De Meyer be your guide. After several preliminary visits with students from Ghent University, among others, the professor, architecture historian and Venice specialist will show you the most fascinating architectural pavilions. In between, he will take you to some of the highlights by Carlo Scarpa and Palladio. We combine a visit to Villa Foscari (La Malcontenta) with exploring lesser-known (water)ways. During a boat trip through the beautiful Laguna Sud, we sail past Casone Valle Zappa, an exceptional architectural project in a Dutch style, where Hemingway and Dali once stayed.

The title, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale begins with a neologism. The last syllable, ‘gens’, is Latin for ‘people’ and is an invitation to experiment with intelligence that goes beyond the current limited focus on AI and digital technologies. Over the past two years, climate change has accelerated to a pace that exceeds even the best scientific models. When the knowledge and systems that have long shaped our understanding begin to fail, new ways of thinking are needed. Architecture must reconnect with its longer history of adaptation and rethink how we design for a changed world. Curator Carlo Ratti wants to show how we can adapt to tomorrow’s world with confidence and optimism.

Landscape architect Bas Smets and neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso present the exhibition Building Biospheres in the Belgian pavilion. Historically, architecture has always protected us from the elements. By creating an indoor climate, we have shut ourselves off from the natural world. Building Biospheres explores how the intelligence of plants can help create microclimates in buildings. The plants cool the space, regulate humidity, produce oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, transforming the building into its own biosphere.

register