Living Room Collective uses live cyanobacteria within 3D printed biostructures to capture carbon dioxide from air in the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. Named Picoplanktonics, the exhibition commissioned by The Canada Council for the Arts is on view from May 10th to November 26th, 2025. designboom speaks with Living Room Collective’s lead and biodesigner Andrea Shin Ling about the project. In our interview, she says that architecture often uses the term ‘regenerative design’ when referring to circular or upcycled material systems. ‘In Picoplanktonics, we are talking about the biological definition of regeneration, which means the literal ability to regenerate or renew from damaged or dead parts,’ she tells designboom.

The research team has merged two ancient metabolic processes for Picoplanktonics: photosynthesis and biocementation. For the former, they turn to cyanobacteria, one of the oldest groups of bacterial organisms on the planet. ‘Cyanobacteria are among the first photosynthetic organisms and are believed to be responsible for the Great Oxygenation Event, where 2.4 billion years ago, the atmosphere transformed from a high CO2 environment to a high O2 environment because of photosynthesis,’ Andrea Shin Ling explains. They can also produce biocementation, or the process of capturing carbon dioxide from air and turning it into solid minerals, like carbonates. Because of this, the resulting minerals act like ‘cement’ and can store the carbon permanently, keeping it out of the atmosphere.

all images courtesy of The Living Room Collective | photos by Valentina Mori, unless stated otherwise

Infusing the bacteria during the printing stage

Before bringing them to Venice, Andrea Shin Ling and the Living Room Collective fabricated the 3D printed biostructures at ETH Zürich’s laboratory. The biodesigner shares with us that when they make these structures, they already infuse the living cyanobacteria during the printing stage instead of later on. Then, they need to let the bacteria grow and take care of them so they can grow. This means they have to provide enough light, warmth, and humidity so that they can proliferate and slowly harden the prints.

‘The idea is that the bacteria cooperate in a human-initiated fabrication process and, with our care, can continue and finish that process (in this case, hardening the printed structures they live in),’ says Andrea Shin Ling. She adds that for the 3D printed biostructure with live cyanobacteria in Venice, favorable conditions mean warm sunlight, high humidity, and access to salt water. ‘These are conditions that are common in Venice and achievable in the Canada Pavilion, which informed our design process,’ the biodesigner explains to designboom.

Living Room Collective uses live cyanobacteria within 3D printed biostructures to capture carbon dioxide from air

Microorganisms that can repair themselves to a healthy state

In Picoplanktonics, the Living Room Collective works with bacteria as the living component of their material system. It has the ability to grow and die within the 3D printed biostructures, as shown in Venice, and the colony can restore itself under favorable conditions after periods of decline. Andrea Shin Ling says, however, that the process isn’t necessarily consistent since it depends on the environmental conditions at a particular point in time.

‘So, for instance, a bioprint might dry out if the air is too dry that week, and many of the bacteria die. But because the system is regenerative, the bacteria population has the potential to restore itself when favorable conditions return and then continue their carbon sequestration work,’ she shares with designboom.

these biostructures are inside the Canada Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025

During their research process, the group has also had samples where the bacteria have gotten ‘sick’, worn out, or where they looked like they were over-oxidized. With some care, the live cyanobacteria were able to repair themselves back to a healthy state. This is what Andrea Shin Ling means when she describes regenerative design. It looks more into the potential of biological material systems that are dynamic and restorative.

‘But their responsivity can also create situations that we don’t want. So much of the project is then trying to understand what is causing these situations and monitoring conditions so that we can respond accordingly,’ the biodesigner adds. Visitors to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 can see the research process and progress of Picoplanktonics firsthand inside the Canada Pavilion. It remains on-site from May 10th to November 26th, 2025.

the research group takes care of the bacteria throughout the exhibition to maintain their healthy state

the bacteria need warm sunlight, high humidity, and access to salt water to thrive

the research group already infuses the living cyanobacteria during the printing stage | image © designboom

the bacteria harden the printed structures they live in | image © designboom

the research team has used ancient metabolic processes for Picoplanktonics | image © designboom

the cyanobacteria can also produce biocementation, or the process of capturing carbon dioxide from air

Living Room Collective’s lead And biodesigner Andrea Shin Ling

the exhibition is on view until November 26th, 2025

project info:

name: Picoplanktonics | @picoplanktonics

group: The Living Room Collective

team: Andrea Shin Ling Nicholas Hoban, Vincent Hui, Clayton Lee

commission by: The Canada Council for the Arts | @canada.council

event: Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 | @labiennale

location: Calle Giazzo, 30122 Venice, Italy

dates: May 10th to November 26th, 2025

research and development: Andrea Shin Ling, Yo-Cheng Jerry Lee, Nijat Mahamaliyev, Hamid Peiro, Dalia Dranseike, Yifan Cui, Pok Yin Victor Leung, Barrak Darweesh

photography: Valentina Mori | @_valentinamori_

production

eth zurich: Huang Su, Wenqian Yang, Che-Wei Lin, Sukhdevsinh Parmar; Tobias Hartmann, Michael Lyrenmann, Luca Petrus, Jonathan Leu, Philippe Fleischmann, Oliver Zgraggen, Paul Fischlin, Mario Hebing, Franklin Füchslin; Hao Wu, Nicola Piccioli-Cappelli, Roberto Innocenti, Sigurd Rinde, Börte Emiroglu, Stéphane Bernhard, Carlo Pasini, Apoorv Singh, Paul Jaeggi; Mario Guala, Isabella Longoni;

toronto metropolitan university: Venessa Chan, Minh Ton, Daniel Wolinski, Marko Jovanovic, Santino D’Angelo Rozas, Rachel Kim, Alexandra Waxman, Richard McCulloch, Stephen Waldman, Tina Smith, Andrea Skyers, Randy Ragan, Emma Grant, Shira Gellman, Mariska Espinet, Suzanne Porter, Stacey Park, Amanda Wood, Lisa Landrum, Dorothy Johns, Cedric Ortiz

university of toronto: Daniel Lewycky, Philipp Cop

visualisation: Adrian Yu, Nazanin Kazemi, Ariel Weiss

structural advisors: Andrea Menardo, Kam-Ming Mark Tam

graphic design: Shannon Lin

website: Sigurd Rinde, Shannon Lin

local project logistics: Tamara Andruszkiewicz

project advisors: ETH Zurich, Benjamin Dillenburger, Mark Tibbitt

support: Canada Council, Digital Building Technologies, Institute of Technology & Architecture, D-ARCH, ETH Zurich, Department of Architectural Science, Toronto Metropolitan University, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada; Advanced Engineering with Living Materials (ALIVE) Initiative, ETH Zurich; Additive Tectonics GmbH; ABB Switzerland; Vestacon Limited and NEUF Architect(e)s

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Aircela Machine can transform air and water into fossil-free gas for engines and cars. Unveiled for the first time on May 20th, 2025, the machine can produce gas on-site and in real time without fossil inputs. It only uses air, water, and renewable electricity. The team designs the structure like a honeycomb, built as well for off-grid and distributed use. Chemistry makes the Aircela Machine work so it can convert air, water, and renewable energy into gas.

The team says that the Aircela Machine uses a water-based solution. It has potassium hydroxide, which captures carbon dioxide from air. There’s a chamber where this breeze goes through as if it were a wind tunnel. Inside this container, the air comes into contact with a specially designed liquid sorbent, which extracts the carbon dioxide. Thanks to the design of the chamber, the air and the sorbent have no choice but to ‘mix.’ Once the air touches the sorbent, the carbon dioxide molecules stick to the liquid, capturing a lot of it without using too much energy.

all images courtesy of Aircela

Sorbent that regenerates so it can be reused

To produce gas from air and water, the Aircela Machine uses electrolysis. It splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The process also uses just renewable electricity, including solar power, to prevent the technology from using too much power. Once the two types of gases come through, the machine keeps the hydrogen one while releasing the oxygen variant. While all of these are happening, the machine ‘regenerates’ the liquid sorbent used in the first step. It cleans itself from the captured carbon dioxide so the sorbent can be reused again. Once it is purified, it restarts capturing carbon dioxide from the air, and the cycle repeats. 

Going back to producing the gas from air and water, the Aircela Machine combines the captured carbon dioxide and the hydrogen to create the methanol. The technology then converts this methanol into gas using chemical processes within the chambers. After that, the user pulls out the pump on the side of the machine and pours the fossil-free gas into a container for engine use. The team says that they’ve built the invention on the research by Dr. Klaus Lackner, a physicist who pioneered the concept of direct air capture in the early 2000s. The company plans to start scaling production in late 2025 to support residential, commercial, and industrial deployments.

the team says that the Aircela Machine uses a water-based solution

the team designs the structure like a honeycomb, built as well for off-grid and distributed use

side view of the machine

view of the pump

there’s a chamber where the air comes into contact with a specially designed liquid sorbent

the technology then converts this methanol into gas using chemical processes within the chambers

the team schedules scaled production in late 2025

project info:

name: Aircela Machine

company: Aircela | @aircela_official

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Amid rising sea levels and growing calls for adaptable infrastructure, AquaPraça is a proposal for a floating cultural plaza hosting gatherings for global climate dialogue. Developed by CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon for the upcoming COP30 in Brazil, the public space harnesses natural intelligence, responsive technologies, and Archimedes’ principle to adapt to rising water levels and occupancy demands, exploring a new symbiosis between architecture and the environment.

The structure spans over 400 square meters and comprises a series of sloping surfaces and adaptive systems. Sensors, responsive technologies, and the natural flow of water work together to ensure the submersible platform adjusts its buoyancy in real-time. As water levels shift, so does AquaPraça, holding and releasing water to maintain a minimal difference between its surface and the sea. It is also designed to meet visitors at eye level with the ocean, bringing various perspectives on the realities of climate change into physical, immediate view. While models were unveiled at the main exhibition of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, the design team will return in September to debut the built prototype. In November, it will be taken to COP30 in Belém where it will anchor the Italian Pavilion, and as the summit concludes, the structure will remain in the Amazon as a long-term cultural landmark.

all images courtesy of CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati

A FLOATING PLAZA FOR climate discourse at COP30 in THE AMAZON 

AquaPraça is currently under construction by Cimolai in northeastern Italy, and at COP30, to be held in the Amazonian city of Belém, it will host exhibitions, workshops, and symposia as the centerpiece of Italy’s pavilion, capable of hosting over 150 people at once. Beyond its distinct position carved into the sea, the project is defined by its insistence on responsiveness.

‘In 1979, Aldo Rossi launched the Teatro del Mondo at the first Biennale Architettura, positing that architecture could engage with the past,’ says Carlo Ratti, curator of the 2025 Biennale and co-founder of CRA. ‘Today, AquaPraça shows how architecture can engage with the future — by responding to climate and engaging with nature rather than resisting it.’ 45 years after Rossi’s floating theatre moved through the Venetian lagoon, this new platform builds on that legacy, recasting architecture’s role as an active participant in shaping the environmental futures of the cities it touches.

AquaPraça is a proposal for a floating cultural plaza hosting gatherings for global climate dialogue

developed by CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon

it comprises a series of sloping surfaces and adaptive systems

sensors, responsive technologies, and the natural flow of water work to ensure the platform adjusts its buoyancy

the project will debut at the Venice Architecture Biennale in September 2025

in November, it will be part of the Italian Pavilion at COP30 in Brazil

exploring a new symbiosis between architecture and the environment

beyond its distinct position carved into the sea, the project is defined by its insistence on responsiveness

project info:

name: AquaPraça

architect: CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati | @crassociati, Höweler + Yoon | @howeleryoonarchitecture

collaborators: Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CIHEAM Bari, World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate program, Bloomberg Philanthropies

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From May 7 to July 13, 2025, the Potager du Roi in Versailles serves as the site for Nous… the Climate, an open-air exhibition forming part of the 3rd Biennial of Architecture and Landscape of Île-de-France (Bap!). Designed by Studio 5•5 in collaboration with Agence TER, the exhibition serves as a spatial manifesto that addresses climate change through a combination of scenography and public installations.

The exhibition’s primary feature is a 300-meter linear table placed within the Potager’s historic layout. This table operates both as a symbolic structure and as a platform for presenting collective responses to climate issues. Its geometry connects multiple zones of the garden and introduces a spatial narrative that begins with the word ‘Nous’ (Us) and concludes with ‘the Climate.’ This layout forms a literal and conceptual axis, framing climate as a shared responsibility across disciplines and sectors.

all images courtesy of Studio 5•5 and Agence TER

Nous… Le Climate scenography adapts to the natural setting

Developed by Studio 5•5’s design team, and commissioned by Agence TER, Nous… Le Climate table features various design projects. These include proposals and interventions related to ecological infrastructure, soil regeneration, urban cooling strategies, and regenerative agriculture. Each contribution emphasizes a landscape-based methodology and presents specific, localized responses to environmental transformation.

Constructed using weather-resistant materials, the scenography adapts to natural conditions. Its layout facilitates varied sensory engagement depending on the time of day and the weather. A key spatial feature of the route includes passage across the central basin of the Potager du Roi, enabling direct interaction with the site’s water systems and microclimatic variations.

a 300-meter table anchors Nous… the Climate at the Potager du Roi

Potager du Roi becomes a living architectural laboratory

Originally designed in the 17th century to support controlled agricultural production, the Potager now functions as a research site for contemporary climate adaptation. The exhibition draws on this historical role to propose new forms of spatial practice, informed by both past horticultural techniques and current environmental strategies.

Incorporated within the site are collective seating areas and shared surfaces designed to host formal and informal dialogues. These elements frame the Potager as a working ground for civic, scientific, and design collaboration.

the exhibition unfolds in the historic gardens of Versailles

public installations connect ecology, design, and dialogue

the table acts as both platform and symbol for climate action

zones of the Potager are linked through the table’s linear geometry

ecological infrastructure projects line the exhibition path

the scenography changes with sun, wind, and rain

the exhibition serves as a spatial manifesto that addresses climate change

the open-air layout encourages informal discussion and exchange

Studio 5•5 and Agence TER frame climate as a collective issue

a route across the central basin highlights water and microclimates

Nous… the Climate: a spatial sentence tracing shared responsibility

project info:

name: Nous…Le Climat
designer: Studio 5•5 | @studio5.5

commissioner: Agence TER | @agence_ter

location: École nationale supérieure de paysage, 10 rue du Maréchal Joffre, 78000 Versailles, France

dates: May 7th – July 13th, 2025

Studio 5•5 design team: Florian Stechenko, Anthony Lebossé, César Potel, Simon Lancelle, Marie Aujames, Eliott Bulle

Agence TER design team: Henri Bava, Michel Hossler, Olivier Philippe

construction: BARAKA & Cie

landscape team: Julien-Labruyere Degas Beatrice, Maëlys Laporte, Karima Agha, Leret Surrault, Anouk Lucile, Augiron Célia, Banyik Aldo, Jiménez Felipe, Philippine Ciupek

support: École nationale supérieure de paysage

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Architects and marine biologists at Florida International University develop BIOCAP tiles, a series of 3D printed coral reefs that combat climate change by creating cooler microenvironments. Designed to support marine life, these modular tiles reduce the impact of waves along the seawalls. They’re designed to help water cities like Miami adapt to the rising sea levels, all the while restoring the ecological balance along the shorelines. So far, the 3D printed ‘coral reefs’ are set to appear along Morningside Park, a neighborhood park in Miami with views of Biscayne Bay. It’s the same city of OMA and Shohei Shigematsu’s ReefLine, its first underwater public sculpture park.

The researchers, led by Sara Pezeshk and Shahin Vassigh, enumerate some ways that the 3D printed coral reef seawalls can help fight climate change. Each BIOCAP tile, for example, has shaded grooves, crevices, and small, water-holding pockets. Because of these, they mimic the natural shoreline conditions. They also construct tiny homes for barnacles, oysters, sponges, and other marine organisms that filter and improve water quality. Design-wise, the BIOCAP tiles have swirling surface patterns that increase their overall surface area. On top of that, they give the marine life more space for colonization.

all images courtesy of Florida International University and Sara Pezeshk

3D printed tiles inspired by coral reefs

There are shaded recesses around the 3D printed coral reefs, which regulate the temperature to provide cooler and more stable microenvironments for the nearby marine life. This thermal buffering supports the species when the rising water’s temperatures change as well as during the frequent heat events driven by climate change. Postdoctoral fellow Sara Pezeshk says that the bouncing back of the waves can increase erosion at the base of the seawalls, which can result in hazardous conditions during storms. 

With the textured surfaces of the BIOCAP tiles, they diffuse this wave energy by replicating the natural, untouched shorelines like rocky coasts or mangroves and slowly break up wave energy. The tile shapes also come from how water interacts with different high-tide and low-tide surfaces. Along these 3D printed coral-reef-inspired designs, there are concave surfaces that deflect the waves away and reduce their direct impact on the seawalls.

the BIOCAP tiles combat climate change by creating cooler microenvironments

two-year pilot phase for the BIOCAP project

At the present time, the BIOCAP project has entered a two-year pilot phase. The research team needs to see and check how efficient and effective these seawall tiles are. Part of the trial is to also measure how the tiles influence biodiversity, water quality, and wave energy reduction. They use underwater cameras to collect time-lapse images of marine organisms that settle on the tile surfaces. They allow for tracking species presence and habitat use over time. The prototype 3D printed coral reefs have embedded sensors in them. 

These devices monitor the water quality as well as measure the pH levels, dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity, and temperature in real time. The researchers analyze the water attenuation by comparing pressure sensor data collected from both the BIOCAP tiles and adjacent sections of traditional seawall. The pilot BIOCAP tiles are installed on the existing seawall in Morningside Park, Miami, in the spring of 2025. The project has also received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

these modular tiles reduce the impact of waves along the seawalls

each BIOCAP tile has shaded grooves, crevices, and small, water-holding pockets

the shapes also construct tiny homes for barnacles, oysters, sponges, and other marine organisms

the pilot project in Miami begins in the spring of 2025

project info:

name: BIOCAP

researchers: Sara Pezeshk and Shahin Vassigh | @sara.pezeshk

institution: Florida International University | @fiuinstagram

study: here

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As part of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale’s official collateral events, The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology takes over Palazzo Diedo with a double-decker exhibition examining the intersection of architecture, ecology, and planetary systems (find designboom’s previous coverage here). Organized in the Berggruen Arts & Culture space, the exhibition runs until November 23, 2025. At its core is Climate Work: Un/Worlding the Planet, a major showcase of MIT Architecture’s ongoing faculty research, framed as the discipline’s response to ecological breakdown through the lens of design, computation, and material inquiry. Sharing the venue is a parallel contribution by Antikythera, adding a complementary cosmological perspective to the planetary themes explored throughout.

The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology takes over Palazzo Diedo | image by Joan Porcel

beyond climate crisis: MIT’s planetary prototypes

Together, Antikythera think tank and MIT’s contributions press architecture into a new register that’s capable of engaging with the cosmos, computation, and crisis on equal terms. The Next Earth asks how thought, form, and code might converge to invent them. 

Located on the lower floor of the newly restored Palazzo Diedo, Climate Work gathers 37 speculative projects from MIT Architecture faculty, challenging the discipline’s role in a world shaped by climate crisis. These works-in-progress imagine alternate presents and futures, with prototypes spanning embodied energy, decarbonized construction, regenerative material systems, and the use of machine learning in design. From deep-time geological thinking to speculative infrastructures, the projects unearth architecture’s complicity—buildings and construction are responsible for nearly 40% of global emissions—while proposing new modes of planetary engagement.

Far from treating climate as a fixed problem, Climate Work reframes it as a generative context. The exhibit invites visitors to see architecture as a world-building tool capable of reconfiguring how humans live, build, and think on Earth. 

the exhibition examines the intersection of architecture, ecology, and planetary systems | image by Joan Porcel

mapping cosmology and climate through parallel visions

On the upper floor, the Antikythera’s The Noocene: Computation and Cosmology from Antikythera to AI takes visitors on a speculative voyage from the world’s first known computer to today’s global AI systems. Curated as both philosophical inquiry and architectural installation, the show centers around a monumental video monolith broadcasting ideas and short films that explore planetary computation as a vast, accidental infrastructure, a ‘megastructure’ rendering Earth’s molecular and atmospheric systems legible and increasingly programmable. Rare historical artifacts—tracing the legacy of philosophy, astronomy, and the evolution of intelligence—anchor the exhibition’s deeper currents, while Antikythera’s forthcoming book, Accept All Cookies, distills its research into a philosophical toolkit for navigating the age of planetary computation.

organized in the newly restored Berggruen Arts & Culture space | image by Joan Porcel

the show runs until November 23, 2025 | image by Joan Porcel

The Noocene takes visitors on a speculative voyage | image by Joan Porcel

architecture’s response to ecological breakdown | image by Joan Porcel

Environment-Trouble by Mark Jarzombek | image courtesy of MIT Architecture

Overview | image courtesy of Antikythera

Variants of Unknowable Significance | image courtesy of Antikythera

Fulcrum House by Mark Goulthorpe | image courtesy of MIT Architecture

GoPro footage of a high-altitude helium balloon | image courtesy of Antikythera

Sandy Curth | image courtesy of MIT Architecture

project info:

name: The Next Earth: Computation, Crisis, Cosmology
research programs: The Noocene: Computation and Cosmology from Antikythera to AI, Climate Work: Un/Worlding the Planet
participants: Antikythera | @antikythera_xyz, MIT Architecture | @mitarchitecture 

location: Palazzo Diedo, Venezia, Italy

event: Collateral Event of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale Di Venezia | @labiennale
presented by: Palazzo Diedo – Berggruen Arts & Culture | @berggruendiedo
dates: May 10th – November 23rd, 2025

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Acapulco: Selective Memories is an architectural installation developed by the design studios a|911, Cadena Concepts, and Esrawe. Presented at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the installation addresses the spatial and material challenges of coastal urbanism in response to recent climate events. Through a structure formed by a double celosía, perforated wall, the project functions as both an archive and a framework, examining the layered urban history of Acapulco and proposing approaches to resilience and adaptive reuse. The installation is situated within the broader theme of the Biennale, Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective., curated by Carlo Ratti, director of the MIT Senseable City Lab. The project engages this context by exploring how architectural intelligence, both traditional and contemporary, can contribute to climate response and urban regeneration.

Acapulco, historically a major port in the Manila Galleon trade and later a prominent international tourist destination, now faces structural challenges related to environmental vulnerability and economic decline. The installation does not seek to evoke nostalgia but to consider the relevance of historical, ecological, and material knowledge in shaping future urban strategies. The design aims to investigate how spatial memory and cultural legacy can inform sustainable redevelopment.

all images courtesy of design studios a|911, Cadena Concepts, and Esrawe I all images credit Ricardo de la Concha

Celosía as Archive and Lattice: A Material Reflection on Acapulco

The double celosía structure includes two primary elements: an archive and a lattice. The archive contains a curated selection of urban and architectural documents, maps, and visual materials referencing figures such as Alexander von Humboldt, Clara Porset, Félix Candela, Mario Pani, Frank Lloyd Wright, and John Lautner. These references provide a contextual framework for understanding the evolution of Acapulco’s built environment and its connections to broader architectural discourse. The lattice element serves as a spatial construct that integrates vernacular building systems with contemporary design methods. It is both conceptual and functional, representing the intersection of tradition and innovation. Through this assembly, the installation examines architectural adaptability in the face of changing climatic and socio-economic conditions.

By foregrounding themes of regeneration and ecological sensitivity, Acapulco: Selective Memories situates Mexican design within global discussions on sustainable development, urban resilience, and collective memory. The project, developed by architectural studio a|911, design firm Esrawe, and the creative team at Cadena Concepts, contributes to ongoing explorations of how architecture can mediate between cultural history and future environmental performance, particularly in coastal contexts.

a collaborative project by a|911, Esrawe, and Cadena Concepts

double celosía structure framing spatial memory and future adaptation

the archive wall features urban and architectural references from Acapulco’s history

perforated walls act as both structural and symbolic frameworks

contextual documents trace Acapulco’s evolution as a global port city

the installation examines the role of design in coastal resilience

architectural archive curated to explore Acapulco’s layered past

material assembly reflecting coastal conditions and cultural continuity

a space where historical reference meets future design thinking

installation proposes a regenerative approach to coastal urbanism

Mexican design positioned within a global sustainability discourse

exploring the intersection of collective memory and urban regeneration

project info:

name: Acapulco: Selective Memories

architect: a|911 | @arq911 + Esrawe Studio | @esrawestudio + Cadena Concepts | @cadenaconcepts

location: Venice, Italy

area: 9 sqm

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom

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At the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, a heavy burst of heat and dimly illuminated pools of water mark a physical and symbolic gateway to Carlo Ratti’s reflection on the planet’s future. The immersive opening room at Corderie dell’Arsenale addresses the shared dilemma of how architecture might reckon with the futures it has helped produce, with two vital positions  — both urgent, uncomfortable truths. While one installation exposes the mechanisms and costs of environmental inequity, the other insists on imagination and collective praxis as the path forward.

Terms and Conditions by Transsolar, Bilge Kobas, Daniel A. Barber, and Sonia Seneviratne pulls the air conditioner, a quiet agent of comfort, into the foreground. The suspended (inactive) devices encircle visitors stepping into the main exhibition in the ‘waste side’ of this thermal ease, surrounding them with heat expelled by the very systems cooling adjacent galleries, and asking what, exactly, we’ve agreed to in the name of indoor climate control. Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte’s The Third Paradise Perspective offers an equally provocative yet more symbolic vision of transformation. Drawing on artist Michelangelo Pistoletto’s concept of a ‘Third Paradise’, a synthesis of the natural and artificial, it visualizes current climate futures of Venice and reframes architecture as a bridge between planetary care and democratic co-creation.

all images by Marco Zorzanello, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia

terms and conditions suspends inverted air conditioners

Developed by Transsolar (see more here), Bilge Köbaş, Daniel A. Barber, and Sonia Seneviratne, Terms and Conditions dismantles the logic of air conditioning by reversing its flow and inverting its form. Rather than cooling an interior, it pushes the exhaust that is typically hidden outdoors into the exhibition space itself. This literal inversion turns the exhibition space into a site of confrontation, with the whirring of compressions and the damp heaviness of displaced heat rendering a sense of physical discomfort, in parallel with the symbolic connotations of the broader systems that make thermal comfort possible for some, and impossible for others.

The familiar, sealed coolness of air-conditioned environments that are now standard across malls, offices, and homes comes at a cost: rising emissions, overloaded electrical grids, and a growing dependence on fossil fuels. In this installation, the design team renders this cost no longer invisible and undeniably palpable. Comfort instead becomes conditional, contingent on someone, or some place, bearing its externalized consequences. The project thus visualizes a thermal divide: on one side, environments engineered to be consistent and silent; on the other, noisy, damp spaces left to absorb the excess. By confronting visitors with this imbalance, Terms and Conditions spatializes the global inequities embedded in climate-controlled architecture, and becomes a thermal allegory.

confronting climate conditions at Venice Architecture Biennale

Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte’s third paradise perspective

While Terms and Conditions plunges viewers into the waste heat of the present, The Third Paradise Perspective invites them to step into a symbolic threshold between what is and what could be. Developed by Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte, the work is rooted in artist Michelangelo Pistoletto’s long-standing symbol of the ‘Third Paradise’ which ponders a reconfiguration of the traditional infinity sign, expanded to include a central loop that represents the union of nature and artifice. Here, the Third Paradise is imagined as not just a far-away utopia but a close future closely dependent on present responsibility.

The experience of the installation is intentionally symbolic, creating a ‘flooded’ room with water reaching 70 centimeters — the predicted sea level rise in Venice by 2100 — traversed by a pathway in the shape of the Third Paradise. With this, it suggests that the path forward is not linear progress, but what the collective calls ‘demo-praxis’: a reframing of democracy as cooperative creation enacted in everyday negotiations, shared practices, and design processes. In this worldview, architecture becomes a framework within which we can reimagine our relationships to one another and to the planet. This orientation toward incompleteness and active engagement also resonates with the installation’s emphasis on shared responsibility. ‘Preventative peace,’ as the design team puts it, is the opposite of apathy and serves as an invitation to recognize architecture’s role as both a spatial and political practice that is shaped by the choices we make together, in ‘nano-parliaments’ of communities, institutions, and collectives.

a heavy burst of heat and dimly illuminated pools of water mark a physical and symbolic gateway

a ‘flooded’ room with water reaching 70 centimeters

the works address the dilemma of how architecture might reckon with the futures it has helped produce

Terms and Conditions and the Third Paradise Perspective

a series of suspended air conditioners

the work immerses visitors in the ‘waste side’ of thermal comfort

the whirring of compressions and the damp heaviness of displaced heat render a sense of physical discomfort

reframing architecture as a bridge between planetary care and democratic co-creation

project info:

name: Terms and Conditions and The Third Paradise Perspective

designer: Transsolar | @transsolar_klimaengineering, Bilge Kobas, Daniel A. Barber, and Sonia Seneviratne — and Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte | @cittadellarte

location: Corderie dell’Arsenale, Venice, Italy

program: Venice Architecture Biennale | @labiennale

dates: May 10th — November 23rd, 2025

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Venice will become a pivotal stage for discussions on ecological transition and sustainability as it hosts the inaugural Venice Climate Week from June 3rd to 8th, 2025. This environmental conference, conceived and curated by Riccardo Luna in collaboration with the Future Food Institute, aims to foster a broad and inclusive dialogue centered on the conscious redesign of our relationship with the planet. It will bring together a diverse assembly of nearly 100 speakers from the realms of culture, science, business, activism, and art.

The cross-disciplinary conversations hosted over the initiative’s six-day run — aligned with World Environment Day and World Oceans Day — will address how the complexities of climate change demand a holistic and integrated understanding of the challenges at hand. Discussions will also focus on empathetic design solutions and refining regenerative economic models that can drive environmental sustainability efforts. Events will take place at various venues across Venice, including the Procuratie Vecchie, Le Corderie dell’Arsenale, and the new SEA BEYOND Ocean Literacy Center developed by the Prada Group and CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati.

image by Martin Katler

venice climate week to host cross-disciplinary discussions

As the world grapples with the tangible effects of climate change, many organizations have shifted to taking actionable steps and devising innovative solutions. Recognizing this urgency, the Venice Climate Week positions itself as a crucial moment to ‘inspire individuals and organizations’ to refresh their goals, tools, and narratives. The choice of Venice as the backdrop is particularly resonant, given that the city is well acquainted with the delicate balance between human intervention and the power of nature.

Venice Climate Week’s alignment with the two significant United Nations observances in June underscores the interconnectedness of environmental challenges and highlights the critical role of both terrestrial and marine ecosystems in the planetary design. The focus on these days provides a framework for discussions that will likely explore topics ranging from sustainable urban development and resource management to the urgent need for effective marine conservation.

inaugural Venice Climate Week becomes a pivotal stage for discussions on ecological transition and sustainability

Riccardo Luna with Sara Roversi of Future Food Institute

press conference in Rome

project info:

initiative: Venice Climate Week 2025

dates: June 3rd — 8th, 2025

curator and developer: Riccardo Luna

collaborative developer: Future Food Institute

location: Venice, Italy

The post inaugural venice climate week to spotlight global sustainability and climate solutions appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

In the flood-prone region of Sindh, Pakistan, the Juliet Center anchors a prototype development for resilient, community-driven architecture led by Yasmeen Lari. Within the Pono Village, conceived by the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan following the devastating floods of 2022, this new bamboo pavilion creates a flexible, open space to empower local residents. The project has thus been completed by Nyami Studio and Jack Rankin with a strong social focus, responding directly to the area’s environmental and economic vulnerabilities that intensified after 2022.

Extending Lari’s broader vision to foster self-sufficiency through vernacular techniques, the Juliet Center is built with low-cost and eco-friendly materials including bamboo, mud, lime, and thatch. It is shaped as a lightweight, vaulted structure that recalls the traditional domed forms familiar in Sindh, while translating them into a sinuous, modular silhouette. Within the open form framed by bamboo columns, it creates an inviting setting for spontaneous community gatherings while providing a space to host educational workshops, upskilling locals in sustainable building techniques.

all images courtesy of Nyami Studio

the pavilion champions environmental & social empowerment

Following the floods of 2022, the Pono Village was developed as a vital zero-carbon settlement — an extension of Yasmeen Lari’s exploration of sustainable shelters for marginalized communities who have been displaced by such disasters over the years. For the Juliet Center too, Lari commissioned London-based Nyami Studio and designer Jack Rankin to create a new node for the community, taking into consideration structural longevity and long-term civic empowerment — particularly for women, who are here trained in construction and craftsmanship to support their livelihoods. ‘At the heart of the project was a commitment to creating positive social impact,’ notes Rankin. ‘To support this, we designed a flexible, open-plan space that could serve both the local community and the Heritage Foundation, providing a setting for workshops, talks, and social gatherings.’

The structure consists of two vaults arranged on a hexagonal grid, spanning widely to open up to the village without the need for internal columns. Though the space maintains a basic open plan, its modularity ensures that it remains deliberately flexible for future expansions or replication in other settlements.‘It is for the community to inhabit, adapt, and use in ways that suit their daily lives,’ the designer adds.

Nyami Studio and Jack Rankin complete Juliet Center

a community space amid yasmeen lari’s zero-carbon pono village

For the construction process, Nyami Studio and Jack Rankin reinforced the Heritage Foundation of Pakistan’s commitment to preserving and promoting culturally rooted building practices, fusing this with the precision of digital design to work with the extreme climate while achieving complex geometries and durability.‘With no locally available methods for steaming or heating bamboo, we bent it by notching and shaping it into formwork,’ Rankin shares. Shaping these elements according to pre-calculating angles while integrating local techniques, the formwork was adjusted through a process of trial and error in close collaboration between the international design team and local villagers.

For the finishing, floors have been layered with 10,000 hand-made mud tiles fired in neighboring villages, and a durable, woven thatch roof made of locally-harvested grass offers protection from the extreme heat and rains. Structurally, the design utilizes 2-3′ bamboo members which allows for faster material procurement without compromising on spanning capacity or stability.

this new vaulted bamboo pavilion creates an open space to empower locals

While the building was still awaiting the completion of a perimeter of tiled steps and a retractable fabric facade when Jack Rankin and Neil Palmer (co-founder of Nyami Studio) departed Pakistan, it had already been embraced by the community. Children turned the Juliet Center into a playground, and adults gathered for afternoon tea, filling the space with life before the final finishes were even implemented.

built with traditionally low cost and eco-friendly materials including bamboo, mud, lime, and thatch

its curves recall the domed forms familiar in the region, translating them into a lightweight, sinuous silhouette

intended to host spontaneous community gatherings while providing a space for educational workshops

the formwork was adjusted through trial and error

developed in close collaboration between the design team and villagers

floors are layered with 10,000 hand-made mud tiles fired in neighboring villages

‘With no locally available methods for steaming or heating bamboo, we bent it by notching and shaping it into formwork’

located within Yasmeen Lari’s Pono Village

project info:

name: The Juliet Center

architect: Jack Rankin, Nyami Studio | @nyamistudio

location: Pono Village, Sindh, Pakistan  

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