19. Mostra Internazionale di Architettura – Vivre Avec / Living With

Il progetto Vivre Avec / Living With rappresenta la Francia alla Biennale Architettura di Venezia.

Comunicato stampa

VIVRE AVEC / LIVING WITH, the project for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia proposed by the curators of the French Pavilion — Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane (JAKOB+MACFARLANE architectes), Martin Duplantier (Martin Duplantier Architectes), and Éric Daniel-Lacombe (EDL architectes)— explores architecture’s capacity to address environmental challenges as well as the global conflicts and instability of today’s world. “In a world of polycrisis and turbulent change, with multiplying conflicts and a climate that is becoming unpredictable, a world where millions are being displaced, while others are living in areas increasingly exposed to risks, we must learn to live with this state of permanent instability. How can we continue to live on this planet while inventing new ways of life in the face of these challenges?” articulates the curatorial team.

Architecture intersects human, urban, social, and environmental issues. Living With will explore its ability to synthesize and adapt through six themes:

LIVING WITH… the existing

LIVING WITH… the immediate

LIVING WITH… the broken

LIVING WITH… vulnerabilities

LIVING WITH… nature

LIVING WITH… combined intelligences

For the exhibition VIVRE AVEC / LIVING WITH presented in the French Pavilion, the curatorial team aims to demonstrate that architecture can do more than survive in a world in crisis — it can actively contribute to humanity’s adaptation to changing conditions.

The curators have selected about fifty French and international projects to explore these six themes.

Among these projects, nine are presented by the curators, and forty one were selected by the jury panel from submissions to an open call launched in July 2024. For this selection, the committee members had to review approximately 275 projects from France (mainland, French Guiana, Mayotte, Martinique) and many other countries around the world (Ukraine, Liban, Japan, Morocco...).

Closed for renovation throughout 2025, the historical French Pavilion in the Giardini is far from abandoned. Embracing the concept of living with what is already there, the exhibition unfolds right next to the construction site, within a lightweight structure entirely made from construction reusable materials and integrating the surrounding landscape. The universal architectural language of scaffolding used in the restoration of the historic pavilion is extrapolated to become the project’s key material and the starting point of the exhibition.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog (published by Flammarion) and a program of conferences open to the public.

VIVRE AVEC / LIVING WITH aligns with the theme of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective" under the general curatorship of architect and engineer Carlo Ratti.