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International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia 2025

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Alternative Skies is an invitation to look up and rethink how we build. It explores how design and fabrication technologies draw on the many intelligences of craft, culture, and nature, and amplifies the connection between natural building materials and collective construction knowledge.

Alternative Skies features a seven-meter-long vaulted arcade that showcases a patchwork of new techniques for floor and roof systems, including a prefabricated modular vault using panelling methods, a timber shell that merges structural elements with ornamental patterns, and a woven roof crafted with the precision of augmented reality. The suspended arcade serves as a metaphor for how design technology embodies the ways patterns, forces, and construction details create architecture grounded in the tacit knowledge of making.

Beneath the arcade lies the archive, a space framed by two parallel cabinets showcasing a range of vernacular roof building traditions, from Egypt’s earthen dovecotes to Syria’s corbelled domes. The archive categorises these techniques by their material origins: harvested, grown, or mined. By examining the ingenuity and resourcefulness of these methods, the archive serves as a vital resource for architects and designers on how tradition and innovation can converge to shape locally sourced architecture.

Alternative Skies redefines the boundaries between design, craftsmanship, and natural materials. By integrating modern technologies with vernacular traditions, the project reimagines making, building, and dwelling.


Event Quick Facts

  • Name: 19th International Architecture Exhibition.
  • Title:Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.
  • Curator: Carlo Ratti.
  • Organizer: La Biennale di Venezia.


KEY DATES

  • Public Opening: Saturday, May 10, 2025.

  • Closing: Sunday, November 23, 2025.

The Arcade

Segmented Willow Vault
    Lazo Timber Vault
      Woven Tile Vault
        Slide 1 of 0
        Play

        Archive

        The Alternative Skies Archive is more than a repository—it is a dynamic process of knowledge construction. Designed to display and disseminate cultural and material heritage, it remains intentionally open to reinterpretation and evolution through the lens of both present and future contexts. Built through collective effort, the archive embodies shared knowledge, weaving together diverse voices, perspectives, and histories.

        It resists being a static collection; instead, it unfolds as an ever-expanding landscape of inquiry, comparison, and contrast—a space where revision and transformation actively shape our understanding of “alternative skies,” the surfaces that offer shelter or a place to stand. 

        Organized as a constellation of spaces for content, the archive’s many drawers, shelves, doors, and panels form a layered narrative that unfolds across three distinct sections:

        • Material Intelligence

          This section explores how these horizontal architectural elements—skies—act as a space for dialogue, organization, and negotiation between material, spatial, structural, and formal conditions.

        • Tacit Intelligence

          This section unravels relationships among systems, geographies and memory as a process of adaptation, transformation, and continuity in architectural knowledge.

        • Building Intelligence

          This section explores the notion of “building” as a multilayered process, bridging traditional craft and modern technology. As both legacy and hope, the Alternative Skies Archive ensures continuity while inviting new narratives. It is a bridge between generations, offering future builders, thinkers, and creators a foundation to explore, challenge, and innovate.

        As both legacy and hope, the Alternative Skies Archive ensures continuity while inviting new narratives. It is a bridge between generations, offering future builders, thinkers, and creators a foundation to explore, challenge, and innovate.

        *Click or tap on any image to see it in full detail.

        • A view of a rustic wooden ceiling with a woven texture.
        • The intricate ceiling design of Taourirt Kasbah showcases traditional Moroccan architecture.
        • A detailed view of a patterned ceiling in a religious setting in Paros, Greece.
        • This image shows an agricultural tool made of circular straw intertwined around a wooden stick.
        • The ceiling of a dilapidated mosque shows wooden beams and a hole allowing sunlight to shine through.
        • The intricate ceiling design of the Nur al-Din Bimaristan in Damascus, Syria.
        • A stunning view of the intricately designed dome ceiling of the Cordoba Mosque in Spain.
        • A wooden structure with diagonal patterns and vertical beams in a natural setting.
        • The intricate ceiling design of Khan Asad Basha in Damascus, Syria.
        • The intricate ceiling of the Kasbah Palace in Tangier, Egypt, showcases beautiful architectural details.
        • The intricate ceiling of Bahia Palace in Marrakech showcases stunning Moroccan architecture.
        • A close-up view of a circular stone floor with a central hole, located in a farmhouse.
        • The intricate ceiling of the Hall of the Two Sisters in the Alhambra, adorned with detailed geometric patterns.
        • The ornate wooden ceiling of Casa Consistorial de Alzira features intricate triangular patterns.
        • The image shows the intricately patterned ceiling of an ancient funerary site in Cerveteri, Italy.
        • A view of the Temple of Athena Nike in Athens, Greece, showcasing its architectural features.

        Participants

        Alternative Skies at La Biennale

        Photographer: Luís Díaz

        *Click or tap on any image to see it in full detail.

        • An art installation featuring intricate woven structures suspended from the ceiling in an industrial space.
        • The image showcases a modern architectural ceiling with a unique geometric design made of wood and metal.
        • An artistic installation featuring a suspended structure above a wooden counter in an industrial space.
        • A display of various building materials arranged on shelves.
        • This image shows a wooden display with architectural models and materials.
        • A modern shelving unit with clear compartments and white accents.
        • A modern display cabinet showcasing an abstract sculpture and a flat design piece.

        collaborators

        Supporters

        • The logo of Princeton University featuring a shield design.
        • The logo of the IE Foundation features stylized letters 'ie' and the word 'FOUNDATION'.
        • A logo representing IE University School of Architecture and Design.
        • This image features the logo of IE University.