What happens when ancient ritual, modern technology, and a new generation of designers meet in one of the world’s oldest cities? At the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, the China Pavilion offers an answer that feels both timeless and radically forward-looking.
China has officially opened its pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. Titled CO-EXIST, the exhibition is curated by renowned architect Ma Yansong, founder of MAD Architect. The pavilion explores how traditional Chinese spiritual philosophies can engage with accelerating technologies in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and environmental transformation.
The exhibition gathers twelve interdisciplinary teams, architects, researchers, and designers, whose work channels Eastern philosophies and local contexts into new architectural propositions. Their projects span spiritual reflections, material innovations, and ecological interventions, revealing how emotion, memory, and nature can be integrated into urban form.
12 Rhythms in Liangzhu reinterprets the rituals and instruments of an ancient civilization, creating a spatial dialogue between heaven, earth, and humanity. In Vault of Heaven, green construction netting becomes a cascading canopy, a poetic reminder of China’s rapid modernization and the metaphysical aspirations that often get lost in its shadow.
Other installations engage directly with the complexities of contemporary urban life. Concrete Spolia reuses discarded building materials from Venice itself, marrying sustainability with narrative. Renew City Plugins turns to AI and open-source mapping to propose scalable urban acupuncture: micro-interventions that revitalize neglected corners of the city.
There is also a celebration of informality. Interchange City highlights the overlooked vitality of spaces beneath highway overpasses, framing them not as leftover infrastructure but as evolving sites of community and imagination. Open Source City, on the other hand, transforms digital social interactions into spatial blueprints, allowing online behavior to shape the physical world.
Ma Yansong frames the pavilion not as a statement, but as an invitation: ““We hope this collective presentation signals a process of transformation—one that is seen and discussed openly—revealing the younger generation’s interpretation of traditional Chinese culture, their proposals rooted in modernity, and their visions for the future. We believe we are entering an era that is diverse, humanized, and emotionally rich. In this context, we aim to offer ideas from China—so that Chinese wisdom may be shared with the world.”
The China Pavilion is on view until November 23, 2025, at the Arsenale in Venice.
China Pavilion Project Details:
Project Name: CO-EXIST
Dates: May 10, 2025 – November 23, 2025
Venue: Arsenale – Magazzino Delle Cisterne, Castello 2169/F – 30122 Venezia, Italy
Curator: Ma Yansong
Organizer: Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China
Co-Organizer: China International Culture Association
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