By Viola Zhang
Perhaps there is a point at which we are unavoidably confronted with our limitations. Ideas can be boundless, creativity expansive, design interminable. But human bodies are not, Earth’s resources are finite, decisions have irreversible consequences.
This year’s Biennale Architettura 2025 is a call for proactive solutions with its theme “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.” in response to 2024 being the first year in which average global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—a critical tipping point. The exhibition left me with the following impressions of this community’s direction and capabilities:
- Form, Process, and Materials – build lightweight with de-/re-constructability and engineered natural materials to provide structures and spaces for a sustainable practice.
- Information, Storage, and Longevity – information derived from and stored in non-human sources such as artificial intelligence and evolved fauna, flora, and microbiota provide us with means to survive in the face of climate change and uncertainty.
- Amending Collateral Damage – in our pursuit of one thing (e.g., comfort, cultural and economic growth, intellectual exploration) we have inadvertently exacerbated our disparity and global livability, but with recognition, integrative design, and new vernaculars we manage and begin amendments.
Entering the Arsenale via Transsolar’s collaborated opening exhibition, we are met with the Terms and Conditions (1) of our past and continued future if we fail to alter our trajectory: the loud hum of air conditioners, flooding above waist level, heat from increasing climatic heat shifts expounded by the waste heat of our cooling systems. The heat is heavy in the air, weighed down by the myriad of AC units running, and the darkness of more frequent power outages and energy crises confront us through the looming atmosphere of our repercussions. Exiting into the main hall, the air is cool, the exhibition hall is lit and teeming with exhibits and excitement, but as we look behind us, we see that the ACs were running precisely for us …
In contrast, an alternative world is possible. I had the pleasure of contributing to the Bahrain Pavilion—winner of the 2025 Golden Lion for Best National Participation—curated by Andrea Faraguna. Together with Jonathon Brearley, we co-authored the chapter “Implementing Thermal Re-regulation in the Public Domain” in the accompanying publication Heatwaves. (2) We discuss the onset of a new vernacular—a vernacular defined by integrative and expansive thinking, met through layered iterative design, focused on climate-specificity, locality, and the extended (human) body. A practice where technology is not the machine but the application of knowledge: re-envisioning of fundamental mechanisms to harness time-tested principles to enhance comfort and mitigate heat in extreme climates. The pavilion drew on traditional Bahraini cooling techniques that utilized temperate ground temperatures and solar chimneys to passively cool spaces and explored the impact of these outdoor cooling techniques for the public and social equity.
Transsolar’s participation also included the design of adequate shading while maintaining visual connection for the STFE lightweight demountable La Liberia (3) bookshop and design of visualizations as a tool for understanding and transformation in “Diagrams,” a parallel event at the Fondazione Prada conceived by AMO/OMA. Several other exhibitions proposed solutions in accordance with limitations such as Lavaforming (a) (Icelandic Pavilion), Deserta Ecofolie (b) (minimal dwelling in hyper-arid deserts), and more.
In using our imagination, we can celebrate our limitations, and it is never too late to change for the better when we decide today is that day.
Is today your first day into the future you want to make?
Credits
(1) Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH (Climate engineering) TUM Munich (Climate experience) ETH Zürich (Climate science) Bilge Kobas, Daniel A. Barber, Dehlia Hannah, Alexandra Auer, Sebastian C. Koth (Design) Massimo Ferranti, ABC Produzioni e Allestimenti (Installation) Klaus Feith, boost (Production) DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council), Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH (Supporter)
(2) Heatwaves: Kingdom of Bahrain (Arsenale Pavilion - Commissioner: Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, President Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities; Curator: Andrea Faraguna; Exhibitors: Alexander Puzrin, Andrea Faraguna, Eman Ali, Mario Monotti, Wafa Al Ghatam)
(3) La Liberia (Giardini Exhibit - Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Robert Le Ricolais, Transsolar)
(a) Lavaforming: Iceland Pavilion (Commissioner: Halla Helgadóttir, Iceland Design and Architecture; Curator: Arnhildur Pálmadóttir; Exhibitor: s.ap architects (Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Arnar Skarphéðinsson, Björg Skarphéðinsdóttir, Sukanya Mukherjee, Andri Snær Magnason, Jack Armitage)
(b) Deserta Ecofolie: A prototype for Minimum dwelling in the Atacama Desert and Beyond (Pedro Ignacio Alonso, Pamela Prado)
Photo 'Terms and Conditions': Roland Halbe