Biennale Architettura 2025: GENS Public Programme (Workshops)

As part of the GENS Public Programme, Workshops will run starting from the first pre-opening day, Thursday 8 May, throughout the six months of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti (10 May – 23 November 2025).

Located at the heart of the Exhibition, the Workshops will take place in the Speakers’ Corner at the Corderie dell’Arsenale, emphasizing interdisciplinary dialogue as a key theme of Intelligens. Along with Conferences as part of the GENS Public Programme, Workshops invite the public to engage with the ideas and materials of the Exhibition, mobilizing collective intelligence to transform the built and natural environments in response to the climate crisis, and expanding the meaning of Intelligens through public discourse.

The Speakers’ Corner is designed by Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture), Johnston Marklee (Johnston Marklee & Associates), and Florencia Rodriguez (Director, University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture), with the support of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. The Workshops constitute an ongoing program of initiatives conceived by the participants in Space for Ideas and numerous other key figures on the international scene.

Complementing these events is Restaging Criticism, a series of meetings dedicated to contemporary architectural criticism, curated by Christopher Hawthorne and Florencia Rodriguez for the Speakers’ Corner, and structured around four categories: Modes and Platforms, Territories, Operative/Operation, Emerging Voices.

The GENS Public Programme is continuously evolving, with Conferences and Workshops regularly added to the event calendar. Carlo Ratti, curator of the 19^th Exhibition, will be participating in many of these sessions, including those scheduled during the pre-opening days. The public is encouraged to visit the official website of La Biennale di Venezia for further information and real-time updates on the programme.

Thursday, May 8
10 :30 am-11 :00 am
The Life and Times of Gae Aulenti

A discussion around the portrait of Gae Aulenti, a human and professional history among the most intense of the Italian twentieth century, developed around its curious and collective nature, able to hold together the many worlds of architecture and often go beyond its borders.
Speakers: Stefano Boeri, Giovanni Agosti, Nina Artioli, and Nina Bassoli. 

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Synthesising Complexity for Regenerative Futures

Exploring the provocation, “How can we leverage architecture’s relationship with computation and algorithms to design transformational practices which, in turn, respond to precarious urban conditions across the world”, this panel discussion references Exhibition participant Alisa Andrasek’s installation Agentic Architecture, a research project committed to tackling systemic planetary challenges through scalable design solutions.
Speakers: Fleur Watson (Associate Professor, School of Architecture, RMIT University), Alisa Andrasek (AIArch, Professor of Architecture, RMIT University), Albert-László Barabási (Robert Gray Dodge Professor of Network, Science and Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University), Claudia Pasquero (Director ecoLogicStudiom and Head of Institute of Urban Design at Leopold-Franzens Universität Innsbruck), Winy Maas (Founding Partner MVRDV).

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Introducing “Restaging Criticism”
Speakers’ Corner (Corderie dell’Arsenale)

Throughout the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, Speakers’ Corner will host “Restaging Criticism,” a dynamic series on the future of architectural media. This kickoff event will look back to the role critics and historians played in the inaugural Biennale Architettura, in 1980; discuss the inspiration for the Speakers’ Corner design by Johnston Marklee; and frame possible futures for architecture criticism.
Speakers: Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture), Mark Lee (Principal and Founding Partner, Johnston Marklee), Florencia Rodriguez (Director and Associate Professor, University of Illinois Chicago).

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Cities: Lessons from Microbes as Humans Adapt to Rapid Population Decline
Speakers’ Corner (Corderie dell’Arsenale)

In the last hundred years the human population and its energetic burden on the planet grew exponentially. Yet, the global population is projected to decline equally rapidly in less than a generation. Humanity must prepare for the coming deceleration. This multidisciplinary team of Exhibition participants (The Other Side of the Hill) discusses how microbes offer an alternative model for re-imagining urban and planetary futures.
Speakers: Beatriz Colomina (Architectural Historian), Patricia Urquiola (Designer), Mark Wigley (Architectural Historian), Geoffrey West (Theoretical Physicist), Roberto Kolter (Microbiologist).

Friday, May 9
10:30 am - 11:30 am
Intelligens for Urban Regeneration

Urban co-existence of culturally heterogeneous communities, recovery of post-industrial areas, conception of new work spaces as places of community aimed not only at production but also well-being: these are salient themes for the future of cities. With the Nuvola project as one example among many, responses to these challenges are proposed, shared by those who conceive of and design interventions that connect with and complement their surrounding neighborhoods, environments, and communities.
Speakers: Cino Zucchi (Founder CZA Architetti), Francesca Molteni (Founder, MUSE Projects Factory), Francesca Lavazza (Board member, Lavazza Group).
Moderated by Valerio Paolo Mosco (Professor of Architectural History, IUAV).

12:00 noon - 1: 00 pm
Building over time with Intelligens

Building is a complex endeavor, based on the capacity for interaction between different actors, each with unique knowledge and skills different from those of all others. This panel discussion brings experts into conversation around the collective and connective intelligences required to build, and the diverse set of natural, technical, technological, and artificial intelligences that inform construction.
Speakers: Federica Brancaccio (President, ANCE - National Association of Building Constructors), Antonio Di Franco (Secretary General, Fillea CGIL), Derrick De Kherckhove (Sociologist, Scientific Director, Media 2000).
Moderated by Daniele Pittèri (Cultural Manager).

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Between Islands, A Conversation

This event examines Exhibition project Oceanic Refractions as a revolutionary space where technology serves not as colonizer but as connector, linking fragmented island communities and diasporas while challenging the extractive logic of data commodification and reductive victim narratives. The conversation will illuminate how to transform cultural knowledge into a fluid, living archive—where ancestral and contemporary voices resonate against global silence.
Speakers: Elder Simione Sevudredre (Indigenous culturalist and advisor to the Oceanic Refractions project), Amer Kanngieser, Mere Nailatikau.
Moderated by Marina Otero Verzier.

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Restaging Criticism: The Exhibition as Critical Platform

To what extent does, or should, the architecture exhibition operate as a vehicle for architecture criticism and criticality more broadly? What kinds of alliances can we imagine, or bolster, between the critic and curator? Leading critics and architecture curators will gather at Speakers’ Corner to explore these questions.
Speakers: Aric Chen (General and Artistic Director, Nieuwe Institut), Francisco Diaz (Editor General, ARQ Libros), Eva Franch i Gilabert (Professor, UMPRUM the, Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design), Sarah Herda (Director, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts), Lesley Lokko OBE (Founder and Chair, African Futures Institute).
Moderated by Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture) and Florencia Rodriguez (Director and Associate Professor, University of Illinois Chicago).
Introductory remarks will be presented by George McCarthy and Enrique Silva from Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Collective IntelliGens: How Diversity in Architecture Shapes the Future

Architects and contemporary thought leaders will reflect on diversity in architecture during this event promoted by the non-profit organisation Diversity in Architecture (DIVIA). Through the sharing of experiences and knowledge, this platform brings together international voices to help shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and equitable built environment.
Speakers: Trần Thị Ngụ Ngôn (Founder, Tropical Space, Vietnam), Patcharada Inplang (Founder, Sher Maker, Thailand), Izaskun Chinchilla (Founder, Izaskun Chinchilla Architects, Spain), Cazú Zegers (Founder, Cazú Zegers Architecture, Chile), Carolina Rodas & Carla Chávez (Founders, Rama Estudio, Ecuador), Martha Thorne (Architecture Consultant and former Pritzker Prize Director, Spain & USA).
Moderated by Julia Roever (DIVIA) and Marina-Elena Wachs (DIVIA).
Introductory and Closing Remarks by Ursula Schwitalla (DIVIA).

Saturday, May 10
1.00 pm - 2.00 pm
Designing Ecosystems of the Future

The need for innovation and foresight in designing ecosystems supporting both humankind and the planet has never been more urgent. This panel, including Exhibition participants (Space Garden), convenes an invigorating discussion with global thought leaders in architecture exploring design not just for individuals but for entire ecosystems to sustain life on Earth and beyond.
Speakers: Brent Sherwood (Former Blue Origin Senior Vice President, Advanced Development Programs, Former AIAA Space Domain Lead), Ariel Ekblaw (Aurelia Institute Founder and CEO, MIT Space Exploration Initiative Founder), Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture).
Moderated by Deborah Berke (Edward P. Bass Dean of the Yale School of Architecture, founding principal TenBerke Architects).

2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Urban Diasporas and Participation: an Experiment Powered with AI Tools from Naples

An interdisciplinary conversation on urban and social transformations, starting from the case of Vela Celeste. Architects, urban planners, sociologists, and innovators will explore the role of mega-architectures, urban diasporas, the return to one’s roots, and the use of artificial intelligence in participatory design. A unique opportunity to imagine new ways of living and building community in the future of our cities.
Welcome address: Gaetano Manfredi, Mayor of the City of Naples (connected via video conference), Michele Di Bari, Prefect of the City of Naples.
Speakers: Alberto Martinelli (Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Milan), Laura Lieto (Deputy Mayor and Urban Planning Assessor for the City of Naples), Maria Grazia Falciatore (Chief of the Mayor’s Cabinet for the City of Naples), Catherine De Wolf (Director of the Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture – CEA at ETH Zurich).

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Restaging Criticism: The L.A. Fires and Architecture in the Age of Climate Shock

Far from anomalies, this winter’s deadly wildfires in Los Angeles reflect a precarious New Normal in the age of climate shock. How might this state of perma-risk reorient architectural practice, citymaking, and the work of architecture criticism? Architects, critics, and theorists gather to discuss.
Speakers: Alejandro Haiek Coll (Founder, The Public Machinery), Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture), Mark Lee (Principal and Founding Partner, Johnston Marklee, Los Angeles), Michael Maltzan (Founder and Principal, Michael Maltzan Architecture, Los Angeles), Ana Rascovsky (Co-Director, Estudio Planta, Buenos Aires).
Moderated by Florencia Rodriguez (Director and Associate Professor, University of Illinois Chicago).

Sunday, May 11
12:00 noon - 1:00 pm
The Relevance of Land in an Era of Adaptation: a Conversation with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

This conversation brings together thought-leaders and practitioners to answer the question: What is the role of land in solving the economic, social, and environmental challenges of our age? Speakers explore the Exhibition themes of natural, artificial, and collective intelligence through the lenses of land and water, land and fiscal systems, and land and communities.
Speakers: John Farner (Executive Director, Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy), Solomon Greene (Executive Director, Land and Communities), Darla Munroe (Executive Director, Research and Cross-Cutting Initiatives), Marta Lora-Tamayo Vallvé (Professor of Administrative Law, UNED).
Moderated by Armando Carbonell (Former Vice President of Programs, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy).

3.00 pm - 4:30 pm
Restaging Criticism: Critical Futures

What does it mean to produce architecture criticism now? Has the ability to reach new audiences through digital platforms been a Faustian bargain, at the cost of stability for publications and critics alike? Esteemed critics and editors will gather to compare notes and sketch out some possible futures for critical practice at a moment of extreme flux for the field.
Speakers: Shumi Bose (Chief Editor, KoozArch), Sam Jacob (Sam Jacob Studio, London), Samuel Medina (Editor, New York Review of Architecture), Kate Wagner (McMansion Hell and Architecture Critic, The Nation).
Moderated by Christopher Hawthorne (Senior Critic, Yale School of Architecture) and Florencia Rodriguez (Director and Associate Professor, University of Illinois Chicago).

Monday, May 12
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Soft Tactics: Tailored Assemblies

In The Subversive Stitch, historian Rozsika Parker examines how weaving, once relegated to ideas of female domesticity, became a celebrated fine art practice and a critical form of knowledge production. This hands-on session begins with a discussion about weaving and other "soft knowledges" and their applications to architecture as ultra-thin material practices, representations of cultural identities, and forms of collective authorship.
Speakers: Stephanie Rae Lloyd (Assistant Professor, Rhode Island School of Design), Sam Sheffer (Critic, Rhode Island School of Design), Emily Ezquerro (Critic, Rhode Island School of Design), Emma Sheffer (Filmmaker, Channel Films).

4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
My Grandfather’s House

An interdisciplinary approach connects personal and public archives, the built environment, urban anthropology, and feminist urbanism to understand the tensions surrounding Argentine democracy. A house, the story of a person, and the history of a country are all explored in conversation.
Speakers: Natalia Dopazo (Urban Planner, Asemblea Desobediente), Carolina Ipes (Associate Director, Urban Design & Masterplanning, Urban & Estate Regeneration, Community Engagement, PRP London).

Tuesday, May 13
2.30 pm - 3:30 pm
Circular Reconstruction and Material Reuse Strategies for Ukraine

Along with Exhibition participants (Circularity on the Edge), this session brings together architects, urbanists, policymakers, and cultural practitioners from Ukraine and across Europe to explore how material reuse can be reimagined through collective intelligence. In the context of Ukraine’s post-war recovery, the panel focuses on the systems, partnerships, and forms of knowledge needed to enable circular practices in real-world reconstruction.
Speakers: Lian Blok (Architect, Dutch Board of Government Advisors, Advisor on nature-inclusive architecture and sustainable urban development), Kateryna Lopatiuk (Researcher and Designer, ReThink; Author and participant in the Circularity on the Edge installation), Piero Petrucco (President, FIEC and Vice-President, ANCE).
Moderated by Roman Puchko (Co-Founder & CEO, ReThink).

Wednesday, May 14
2.00pm - 4.00pm
Manifesto for the Rights of the Venice Lagoon

The Venice Lagoon represents a unique co-creation between human and non-human intelligens — an evolving, hybrid ecosystem shaped by millennia of interactions, adaptations, and tensions. This two-hour workshop opens up a conversation with architects, activists, policymakers, and the Biennale public, in which we explore how spatial disciplines can respond to more-than-human realities. If nature can hold rights, architects and urbanists cannot remain silent. Their voices — and their actions — are central to how we shape just, livable futures for both humans and non-humans.
Speakers: Venice Lagoon (Nature), Mitchell Joachim (Terreform ONE), Amalia Rossi (IDRA and Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti), Ren Yee (UNStudio), Francesca Tarroco (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, NICHE), Adelita Husni-Bey (TBA21), Elena Longhin (TU Delft, Urban Design), Alex Putzer (IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law), Katja Schechtner (MIT, Senseable City Lab & LCAU).

Conferences and Workshops of GENS Public Programme →

To access the Corderie dell’Arsenale and the Speakers’ Corner, visitors must hold a valid Exhibition ticket for Biennale Architettura 2025.
Admission to the Biennale Architettura 2025 is not included.