Early May the 19th edition of the Biennale Architettura kicks-off in Venice. The Flanders Architecture Institute is commissioner of Building Biospheres, the Belgian contribution. The exhibition, curated by Bureau Bas Smets and Stefano Mancuso, investigates the impact of plant intelligence on architecture.
10.05.2025 > 23.11.2025
How will architecture evolve with an influence of plant intelligence? With their exhibition concept Building Biospheres, landscape architect Bas Smets and climate scientist biologist Stefano Mancuso explore a new relationship between nature and architecture. Building Biospheres proposes to think of buildings as artificial microclimates in which plants play a crucial role in purifying air and cooling space. Using the latest insights into plant intelligence, the project aims to make urban environments more liveable and sustainable. The Belgian pavilion at the 2025 Biennale will serve as a laboratory to explore and demonstrate these ideas.
Supporting team:
In the run-up to the Biennale Architettura 2025 in Venice, the team of Bas Smets together with researchers of the Ghent University are working on a prototype of the installation for the Belgian pavilion; Building Biospheres. In a greenhouse on the Campus Coupure, they are experimenting with innovative climate control for buildings.
find out moreAs part of Building Biospheres, four design teams researched the implications of using plant intelligence in different aspects of architecture. Their proposals comprise two duos, in which architectural concepts resonate with each other and have been formulated or reformulated based on the precondition of natural intelligence. On the one hand, the proposals by Elmēs and Panta explore the effects of artificial biospheres on familiar architectural archetypes. In their work, they investigate the extent to which current structures, and the associated living and usage patterns, are compatible with plant intelligence. The other duos are Maud Gerard Goossens and Henri Uijtterhaegen, on the one hand, and Lisa Mandelartz Schenk and Steven Schenk, on the other. They visualize structural and technical concepts that stem from the dynamic logic of natural processes.
The design teams are:
The exhibition Building Biospheres is accompanied by the catalogue of the same name, edited by Bas Smets, Bart Decroos and Dennis Pohl. With contributions by Stefano Mancuso, Bart Decroos, Véronique Patteeuw, Kathelin Gray, Lydia Kallipoliti, Emanuele Coccia, Kathy Steppe & Dirk De Pauw, Erik De Waele, Lisa De Visscher & Petrus Kemme, Bas Smets, Dennis Pohl.
Available from 11 May 2025.
pre order nowIn spring 2024, the Flanders Architecture Institute (VAi) invited architects, urban planners, designers, researchers, critics and artists to develop an exhibition concept for the Belgian pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2025 in Venice. The jury decided which three teams could further develop their proposal for the exhibition in the Belgian pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2025.
10.05.2025 - 23.11.2025
Belgian pavilion, Giardini della Biennale
Venice
Italy
On the initiative and with the support of the Government of Flanders and Caroline Gennez, Flemish Minister for Welfare and Poverty Reduction, Culture, and Equal Opportunities
Commissioner Flanders Architecture Institute, Dennis Pohl
Curators Bas Smets in collaboration with Stefano Mancuso
Participants Bureau Bas Smets: Bas Smets, Eva De Meersman, Luka Cockx / University of Ghent: Kathy Steppe / Plant AnalytiX: Dirk De Pauw
Editors catalogue Bas Smets, Bart Decroos and Dennis Pohl
Scenography Bureau Bas Smets
In collaboration with Elmès / Maud Gerard Goossens and Henri Uijtterhaegen / Panta / Lisa Mandelartz Schenk and Steven Schenk
Architectural advisor: Lisa De Visscher
Coordination: Petrus Kemme
Produced and supported by Flanders Architecture Institute and the Government of Flanders
With the additional support of Ghent University
Main partner Reynaers Aluminium
Partners Luma Foundation, Arbor, JCX, the Merode, SETP, Leiedal, Vande Moortel, Van Den Weghe, Meter, Rayn Growing Systems, Vaisala, Catec
