Explore every episode of the podcast Talks at the Venice Biennale

In the first episode of Talks at the Venice Biennale, we sit down with the curator Carlo Ratti to indulge in his curatorial process and vision. Taking on the mantle of directorship for La Biennale di Venezia is no small feat; in this episode, recorded shortly before the opening, Ratti emphasises the chorus of voices brought together in his exhibition, from disciplines adjacent to and even seemingly removed from conventional architectural practice. By bringing together various forms of intelligence to inform the future of spatial practice, Ratti’s curatorial composition suggests ways in which architecture could foster a harmony of the spheres.

Talks at the Venice Biennale is a podcast curated and produced by KoozArch Studio.
Post-production: Khaled Nadim 
Graphics by KoozArch Studio.

In this second episode, we focus on the Belgian participation. Titled Building Biospheres, the exhibition, curated by the teams of Bas Smets and Stefano Mancuso, is a prototype for the ongoing research on the possible impact of plant intelligence on architecture, and more specifically on the indoor climate. The notion of plant intelligence is explored through the climatic environment within the pavilion, regulated entirely by plants and flora which communicate with digitally calibrated systems. A product of a ten-year long conversation, the premise of the project is to underline the paradigm that architecture should support life — beyond the human.

Talks at the Venice Biennale is a podcast curated and produced by KoozArch Studio.
Post-production: Khaled Nadim 
Graphics by KoozArch Studio.

In this third episode of the series, we focus on the Portuguese participation in the Biennale. Titled Paraíso, hoje. (Paradise, today), the exhibition is curated by Paula Melâneo, Pedro Bandeira, Luca Martinucci and deputy curators Catarina Raposo and Nuno Cera. Challenging nostalgic or utopian ideas of paradise, Paraíso, hoje proposes paradise as a present and active condition—something to be reclaimed through collective responsibility, critical optimism, and dignified action. Specifically, in this episode we tune into the voices of landscape architect and deputy curator of “Paraíso, hoje.”, Catarina Raposo, Director and Chief Curator of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Giovanna Borasi, The Architectural Review’s Editor-in-Chief Manon Mollard, and sound artist and publisher Nuno da Luz, moderated by curator, critic and communication strategist Julia Alban to discuss the concept of "paradise" in the context of environmental challenges and the importance of collective imagination in addressing these.

Talks at the Venice Biennale is a podcast curated and produced by KoozArch Studio.
Post-production: Khaled Nadim 
Graphics by KoozArch Studio.

In this episode of the Talks at the Venice Biennale, we are pleased to bring into conversation two national participations which include that of Denmark and The Holy See through the voices of Søren Pihlmann, curator of the Danish participation, & Marina Otero Verzier and Tatiana Bilbao, respectively curator and architect of The Holy See Pavilion. The two projects respectively titled ”Build of Site” and “Opera Aperta" explore the importance of the material, ecological and social repair of our built environment to ensure the creation of more sustainable and inclusive architectural interventions.

Talks at the Venice Biennale is a podcast curated and produced by KoozArch Studio.
Post-production: Khaled Nadim 
Graphics by KoozArch Studio.

In this episode, we are delighted to bring into conversation two national participations which include that of Latvia and Lebanon through the voices of Liene Jākobsone, co-curator along Ilka Ruby, & Shereen Doummar as part of the Collective for Architecture Lebanon. The two projects respectively titled “Landscape of Defense” and “The Land Remembers" address the land and the impact that ongoing wars are having on this, from Lebanon’s devastating ecocide to the fortifications which are being erected on Latvia's eastern border with Russia.

Talks at the Venice Biennale is a podcast curated and produced by KoozArch Studio.
Post-production: Khaled Nadim 
Graphics by KoozArch Studio.

In this episode, we are delighted to bring into conversation Andrea Faraguna, curator of the Bahrain participation titled “Heatwave” winner of the the Golden Lion for Best National Participation - and Daniel A. Barber together with Dehlia Hannah, curators of the project “Terms and Conditions” presented in the context of the Main Exhibition curated by Carlo Ratti at the Arsenale. The conversation explores the role of architecture in adapting to changing climates, the ethical implications of comfort in a global context and the potential for cultural institutions to challenge traditional expectations of thermal comfort. 

In this episode, we focus on the Nordic participation. Titled Industry Muscle: Five Scores for Architecture, the exhibition, commissioned by curator Kaisa Karvinen and curated by artist Teo Ala-Ruona in collaboration with both artist Teo Paaer and architect A.L. Hu critically examines the modernist legacy of Sverre Fehn’s pavilion. Specifically unfolding through “the five scores of architecture” the installation addresses issues of gender, body politics, and petromodernism. 

In this episode, we focus on the Croatian participation, curated by Ida Križaj Leko. Titled Intelligence of Errors, the installation draws on the potential of errors and the educational tool of 'error harvest', which Ida Križaj Leko and Marko-Luka Zubčić have been developing since 2018. Within the spaces of the Arsenale, the project takes the spatial form of the Institute of Errors, a nomadic pop-up research and design institution dedicated to examining and utilising spatial errors towards the collective good.