‘Artificial Intelligens’ section of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale – Photo by Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.
Architecture. Today’s cities are woven with vast, often invisible networks—an unseen infrastructure that powers urban life. “While these systems can be energy-hungry and raise important questions about privacy, they also hold promise for easing our cities’ environmental impact,” explains Carlo Ratti, curator of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, which focuses on how architecture can tackle climate change. We’re starting to see buildings act more like living systems, constantly adapting and responding to their surroundings. And with AI evolving fast, the role of the architect is shifting, too. “What happens when algorithms can turn a single prompt into a full set of construction drawings, and machines can build them just as easily?”
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about the Venice Biennale 2025 on Archipanic.
A Robot Dream – Photo by Andrea Avezzù.
“We’re sharing just a few highlights from the ‘Artificial Intelligens’ section—think of them as a teaser,” says Enrico Zilli, founder and Editor-in-Chief of Archipanic. “Carlo Ratti’s selection is rich, inspiring, and absolutely worth a deeper dive. What you read here is just the tip of the iceberg!”
Revolutionizing Clean Energy – Photo by @Agnese Bedini, DSL Studio, courtesy of Pininfarina.
As you enter the Artificial Intelligens section, you’re greeted by a striking installation that blends history and research. Titled Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500, this work by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler maps out how technology and society have shaped each other over the past five centuries. It traces powerful patterns—such as colonialism, militarisation, and automation—and reveals how they still influence our world today. The thought-provoking installation invites visitors to reflect on these deep-rooted systems and imagine new, more equitable ways forward.
Calculating Empires: A Geneaology of technology and power since 1500-6218 – Photo by Luca Capuano.
Can robots become self-aware? Come meet Alter3, a unique android with a clay-like face, expressive hands, and an open, skinless body that reveals its inner workings. This humanoid robot is equipped with systems for perception, movement, and memory, making it surprisingly interactive. Talk to it/him/her (?) and draw your own conclusions! The Am I a Strange Loop? installation by Takashi Ikegami and Luc Steels explores the idea that self-awareness might emerge when a robot’s actions feed back into its own thinking, creating a “loop” that forms a sense of self, or a “Virtual I.” Fascinating.
Am I a Strange Loop? – Photo by Andrea Avezzù.
CO-POIESIS by Philip F. Yuan, Bin He invites us to rethink our relationship with nature and technology. At its heart is the Fired Timber Pavilion, beautifully crafted from trees knocked down by a typhoon in Shanghai, blending traditional woodworking with cutting-edge robotics. Inside, you’ll find a unique performance where human musicians and humanoid robots drum and dance together. The robots don’t just mimic—they process human input through algorithms, creating their own unique responses. One turns rhythms into percussion, another into dance. The project raises questions about creativity, expression, and what it means to be conscious in a world where machines are becoming increasingly sentient.
Co-Poiesis – Photo by Luca Capuano.
Step into A Robot Dream, where a sleeping android floats in mid-air, surrounded by gently curved walls made from robotically assembled steel mesh. The humanoid occasionally moves with subtle gestures that feel both familiar and slightly uncanny. Created by Gramazio Kohler Research (ETH Zurich), MESH, and Studio Armin Linke, the installation explores our evolving relationship with machines, particularly in architecture and construction. It offers a space to pause and reflect on how materials, humans, and robots might collaborate in the future. You’re invited to engage, wonder, and imagine what’s next.
A Robot Dream – Photo by Andrea Avezzù.
Acting like natural air conditioners, trees are essential for climate-friendly urban design. Re-Leaf, an installation by researchers from MIT–Massachusetts Institute of Technology, features an interactive catalogue of thousands of tree species and urban maps from cities like Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Dubai, and Rome. Explore how trees create natural “cool zones” in all kinds of climates. With vibrant visuals and easy-to-follow data, Re-Leaf offers a fresh look at how nature can help us thrive in urban spaces.
Re-Leaf – Photo by Luca Capuano.
Recycling Intelligences explores how machine learning can boost creativity in designing social housing. Created by Researchers from the UPC-Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and the University of Girona>UdG, the installation features a large 12m² table displaying 370 backlit, 3D-printed housing designs. These models mix real proposals from social housing competitions in Barcelona with new ideas generated by AI. Trained on high-quality architectural projects, the AI reveals hidden insights about housing types, community living, and design trends. Visitors can explore how this blend of human and machine thinking can reimagine homes for diverse communities, especially in the face of climate change.
Recycling Intelligences – Photo by Andrea Avezzù.
Revolutionizing Clean Energy brings together Italian design house Pininfarina, nuclear startup newcleo, and shipbuilder and fabricator Fincantieri to introduce a new kind of power: Small Modular Lead-cooled Fast Reactors (SMRs). These compact, transportable reactors recycle nuclear waste to generate clean energy, incorporating built-in safety features. The installation features a full-scale SMR model and an engaging multimedia experience, complete with visuals, diagrams, and data, that make the technology easy to understand. It shows how SMRs could power smart cities, produce hydrogen, heat industries, or provide energy to remote and emergency areas, offering a bold and innovative step toward a low-carbon, more sustainable future.
Revolutionizing Clean Energy – Photo by @Agnese Bedini, DSL Studio, courtesy of Pininfarina.
Tiny Penthouses, by Hedwig Heinsman, reimagines city living with adaptable, eco-friendly homes that attach to existing buildings. Built using 3D printing technology and recycled materials, these small spaces can be endlessly shredded and reprinted, making them fully circular and sustainable. The project is both a real solution and a vision, blending fact and fiction to spark ideas about future housing. Aiming to ease housing shortages and connect communities, it offers a smart, creative take on urban living in Paris and beyond. Tiny Penthouses shows how architecture can evolve with us, becoming more resourceful, inclusive, and imaginative.
Tiny Penthouses: A Reincarnating Masterplan via XL 3D Printing – Photo by Hedwig Heinsman.
The Data Centres and the City exhibition by Grimshaw Architects in collaboration with Arup Australia explores how usually hidden away data centres could become valuable parts of our urban communities. At the heart of the installation is a large model made from reused building materials, showing how circular design can work in practice. With interactive lights mapping out resource flows and a mix of technical visuals, community voices, and future projections, the project offers creative and practical ideas for blending digital infrastructure into city life while keeping sustainability in mind.
Data Centres and the city. From problem to sustainable urbanism – Photo by Luca Capuano.
All photos are courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia, unless stated otherwise.
