Italian
The Italian Pavilion of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia opened yesterday at the Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale of Venice. This year’s theme is “Terræ Aquæ. Italy and the Intelligence of the Sea.” Curated by architect Guendalina Salimei and promoted by the General Direction of Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, the project will be open to visitors from May 10 to November 23, 2025.
VENICE. The inauguration was attended by prominent institutional figures: the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, the president of the Venice Biennale Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, the commissioner of the Pavilion Angelo Piero Cappello, and the mayor of Venice Luigi Brugnaro, who emphasized the importance of the theme chosen for this edition, praising the centrality of water as a distinctive feature of Italian culture and landscape.
A multidisciplinary and inclusive approach
Terræ Aquæ addresses the relationship between land and sea as an architectural, environmental, and cultural nexus. The Pavilion’s objective is clear: to stimulate collective reflection on how our coasts – often neglected or compromised – can once again become spaces of encounter, poetry, and respect. The starting point is the Mediterranean, but the gaze expands towards the oceans, proposing a rethinking of coastal and port infrastructures, artificial barriers, urban waterfronts, and submerged heritage.
The exhibition collects contributions from a call launched last January, involving established and emerging designers, researchers, artists, poets, academic institutions, and third sector organizations. The result is a composite map of visions and projects that address urgent issues such as the redevelopment of coastal areas, the impact of climate change, environmental sustainability, and urban regeneration.
The sea as collective intelligence
The entire project is based on the idea of a “sea intelligence”: a fluid, multidisciplinary knowledge capable of generating innovative solutions through dialogue among different fields of knowledge. This spirit also inspires the rich Public Program “The Sea of Intelligence. Dialogues”, which will accompany the exhibition with seminars, workshops, conferences, and laboratories in various spaces in Venice.
To support the project, there is also a catalog published by Electa, conceived as a true contemporary portolan in three volumes, collecting essays, visions, photographic projects, and cultural contributions.
Investments and Supporters
The Ministry of Culture has allocated 800,000 euros for the construction of the Pavilion, through an agreement with the La Biennale di Venezia Foundation. In support of the initiative, Banca Ifis, OICE, Fondazione Berengo, and the technical partners Layher, Vibia, and Arctic Paper Italia are also involved.
A new path for the future
The Italian Pavilion is presented as an invitation to “imagine the shape of the sea,” in an exercise of visionary design that transcends traditional boundaries between art, science, and architecture. An opportunity to rethink the way Italy relates to its geography, its past, and its future, turning the coast into an experimental and inclusive laboratory for new forms of living, experiencing, and protecting the world.
