This was my first Biennale. I was invited by Gary Hack, Dean Emiritus of the University of Pennsylvania School of Planning and Design and a former professor at MIT who assisted in the curation of the event. Even though I arranged Media Accreditation, I didn't need it. Unlike World Expositions there were no line ups or difficulties getting in to see displays.
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| Gary was both surprised and delighted to see his photo at the entry to the exhibition. |
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One of our first stops was the Canadian pavilion. To put it gently, we were both confused and quite dispappointed by the display which was a joint Canadian/Swiss initiative. I have subsequently reviewed some online information and this is what I found. "The Canada Council for the Arts presents Picoplanktonics at the Canada Pavilion as part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, which will run until November 23, 2025. Developed by the Living Room Collective, the installation engages with ongoing global ecological challenges through a speculative, research-driven approach to design, featuring 3D-printed architectural structures embedded with living cyanobacteria capable of carbon sequestration. Developed through a four-year collaboration led by Andrea Shin Ling and a group of interdisciplinary contributors, the project investigates the potential of co-constructing built environments with living systems." Below is the display that first greets you as you enter the Canadian Pavilion. |
Picoplanktonics is a Living Experiment in Regenerative Architecture. |
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I couldn't quite understand what it was about so I reviewed the ArchDaily where I found the following:
The Living Room Collective is composed of architects, scientists, artists, and educators working at the intersection of architecture, biology, and digital fabrication technologies. Led by Canadian architect and biodesigner Andrea Shin Ling, the core team members include Nicholas Hoban, Vincent Hui, and Clayton Lee. The collective seeks to transition away from extractive models of production by developing design methods and processes grounded in natural systems. For the team, the Biennale Architettura 2025 serves as a platform to provoke national and international dialogue around questions central to the future of architecture: How does one fabricate a biological architecture? What are the conditions of stewardship? And what strategies might scale such approaches regionally and globally? |
| The workings of the system were on full review |
"The structures featured in the pavilion were fabricated using a novel biofabrication platform developed at ETH Zürich. Capable of printing living materials at architectural scale, the system represents a significant advancement in sustainable building technologies. The result is the largest known architectural installation composed of living materials. Within the Canada Pavilion, the exhibition space has been adapted to accommodate the biological needs of the cyanobacteria, with careful calibration of light, humidity, and temperature to allow the organisms to thrive throughout the exhibition's duration."
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