Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: “Intelligens” between nature, technology and community

In the enchanting city of Venice, the 2025 Architecture Biennale unveils “Intelligens” a theme that weaves together nature, technology, and collective living into a refined meditation on the future of inhabiting space. Winding through narrow alleys and timeless pavilions, a narrative unfolds where architecture becomes thought, and space becomes identity.

Amidst this exceptional cultural setting, Caffè Florian, a storied symbol of dialogue and artistic encounter for over three centuries, reaffirms its role as a crossroads of installations and memory, a guardian and interpreter of a present that dares to envisionthe future.
Discover the dates, venues, and the vibrant pulse of a city that once again becomes a theatre of visions.

Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: “Intelligens” and the new way of living

Curated by architect and engineer Carlo Ratti, the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia offers a timely and profound reflection on the future of our built environment and collective living.

The theme, “Intelligens“, highlights the need for an architecture that can evolve, adapt, and draw from all forms of intelligence to meet the challenges of a constantly changing world.

At the heart of this vision is the new manifesto, “Towards a New Architecture of Adaptation“, which calls for an urgent rethinking of how we design the spaces we inhabit.

As the Exhibition’s Director stated:

“The message of the Biennale Architettura 2025 is urgent: the built environment must adapt to a changing planet. Architecture is no longer only about form; it is about survival. To meet this challenge, it must itself adapt, drawing on every kind of intelligence we have: natural, artificial, and collective.”

Through exhibitions, installations, and groundbreaking projects, national pavilions and special sections will present new ideas on how technology and ecology can merge to create a shared, sustainable, and deeply human way of living.

When does the Venice Biennale 2025 open? Key dates and locations

The 19th International Architecture Exhibition will take place in Venice from May 10 to November 23, 2025.

The main exhibition venues will be the Giardini della Biennale, the Arsenale, and several historic palaces scattered throughout the city.
It’s a unique opportunity to experience Venice as an open-air museum, where contemporary architecture meets history and the beauty of the urban landscape.

A cultural crossroads of space, art, and urban thought

The Biennale Architettura is not just an exhibition, but a living laboratory of ideas and visions.
Each pavilion becomes a space for dialogue, where more than 750 participants — including architects and engineers, mathematicians and climatologists, philosophers and artists, chefs and programmers, writers and woodcarvers, farmers and fashion designers — come together from around the world.
They explore how to create more inclusive and resilient habitats, emphasizing the need for a new alliance between technological progress and respect for the environment, while redefining the concept of cities and communities for the future.

Caffè Florian: a timeless meeting place of ideas and expression

In the heart of St. Mark’s Square, Caffè Florian remains a true icon of Venice’s cultural life.
Founded in 1720, Florian has always been a meeting place for artistic, literary, and philosophical thought.

It was right in its historic Senate Room that, under the initiative of then-mayor Riccardo Selvatico and a group of intellectual friends, the idea of creating a major international art exhibition was born.

That vision would later become the Venice Biennale, now one of the world’s most important cultural events.
Since then, Florian has continued to be a vibrant and inspiring place, welcoming travelers, thinkers, and creatives from all over the world, offering a unique atmosphere where time weaves together beauty and innovation.

Historic installations: an archive of art and architecture at Caffè Florian

Caffè Florian is not only a place of history and tradition, but also a space for experimentation and contemporary art.
Over the years, to celebrate its deep connection with the Biennale, Florian has hosted numerous installations and artworks by important artists such as Gaetano Pesce and Mimmo Rotella, Aron Demetz and Omar Galliani.

Among the artists who, in recent years, have reimagined Florian’s rooms through their creations are:

Matteo Pugliese, who in 2014 skillfully transformed the walls and ceiling of the Chinese Room with “Serenissima Babel”, an installation featuring monochromatic panels from which the large face of a young man emerges, surrounded by thousands of three-dimensional letters from different alphabets — Latin, Greek, Russian, Armenian — that seem to float across the historic Caffè’s walls.

Roberto Kusterle, with his 2016 exhibition “Le Spose del Mare” (The Brides of the Sea), took visitors on a dreamlike journey through the myth of Venice, its birth from the sea, and its deep, unbreakable bond with the Adriatic, all through the lens of photography.

Aldo Cibic, featured in the 2018 edition, created a video installation framing his research project “(in)complete”, a digital platform designed to explore and better understand the key issues of our time.

Today, just like in the past, Caffè Florian continues to be not only a guardian of history but also an interpreter of the present and a protagonist of the future.

And on the occasion of the Biennale Architettura 2025, Florian renews its invitation to experience Venice as a place of inspiration, dialogue, and timeless beauty.