Venice Architecture Biennale Features Five Pavilions Showcasing Soil Innovations

The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale highlights innovative uses of soil as a sustainable and versatile construction material across several national pavilions. Notably, the Australian Pavilion, curated by the first all-Indigenous team, centers on the theme of 'home' through a tactile, sensory exhibition featuring a rammed-earth structure and living cultural belongings intended to be touched and experienced, challenging Western museology traditions. Similarly, the Türkiye Pavilion's 'Grounded' exhibition explores soil as a natural ecosystem, incorporating 3D-printed rammed earth and clay structures that invite visitors to engage with the material physically. The Morocco Pavilion combines traditional earthen architecture with modern engineering to showcase soil's durability and flexibility, while the Mexico Pavilion examines ancient agricultural systems integrated into contemporary urban settings. These pavilions collectively emphasize soil's role not only as a building material but as a means to connect cultural heritage, environmental sustainability, and community belonging. This approach reflects a broader shift towards ecological consciousness and Indigenous methodologies in architectural practice and exhibition design.