Background

Biennales are crucial to architectural discourse, acting as platforms for debate, critique, and global exposure. Yet the ways in which ideas evolve within their complex ecologies are often overlooked and excluded from dominant narratives. This paradox highlights the challenge of understanding Biennales from a twofold perspective: as both cultural phenomena and a set of relational networks. The installation “Constructing la Biennale” addresses this challenge by revealing the “behind the scenes” of the event.
Positioned in front of the Padiglione Centrale, currently under renovation, a layered faux-façade offers a critical interpretation of the historical evolution of la Biennale Architettura and the intricate curatorship of the 2025 edition. This effort brings together architectural design, network science, information design, data visualization, and ethnography of architecture—exploring the exhibition as a layered object and unveiling the question: what shapes a Biennale?
By digitizing and analyzing data—such as team sizes and thematic focuses—the project visualizes la Biennale Architettura from a historical perspective, spanning from 1975 to today. A dynamic network of actors, works, and ideas reveals its evolving cultural significance. In parallel, the curatorial process of the 2025 edition is explored as a collaborative endeavor. By shadowing the curatorial team and employing a diverse set of tools—data flows, maps, interviews, physical objects, and videos—the project captures the socio-material complexity behind the exhibition, including its mediations and unseen technical efforts. These insights uncover the interplay of global networks, local contexts, and interdisciplinary diplomacy that often remain hidden behind the spectacle.
“Constructing la Biennale” reframes the exhibition as an open and dynamic ecology of relations, examining it through layered historical and socio-cultural lenses, and offering a deeper understanding of its collective agency and evolving identity.