The Luxembourg Contribution at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 Investigates Territories Through the Medium of SoundSave this picture! Valentin BansacThe Luxembourg pavilion at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale will offer visitors an experience focused entirely on sound. Sonic Investigations, curated by architects Valentin Bansac, Mike Fritsch, and Alice Loumeau, is an immersive invitation to shift focus from the visual to the sonic. The sound installation, located in the Arsenale's Sale d'Armi, is based on a practical and theoretical investigation that re-examines the country's territory through field recordings capturing a range of sounds from biological, geological, and anthropogenic sources woven into the landscape. The installation creates an embodied experience of space, emphasizing the value of sensorial approaches in spatial practices and exploring the question: How can we reveal the entangled character of specific contemporary situations in Luxembourg?The exhibition curators propose understanding the Biennale context as a platform for generating knowledge rather than physical objects. Sonic Investigations is presented as a counter-project to the hegemony of images, highlighting listening as a means to explore both built and natural environments while shifting attention to more-than-human agencies. The curators assert that senses beyond sight are essential for grasping the unseen dynamics of our sensory relationship with the environment. Inspired by John Cage's silent composition 4'33'', Sonic Investigations invites active listening and reimagining Luxembourg beyond anthropocentric perspectives. The project consists of an in-situ sound piece, an immersive exhibition environment, a book, and three activation events.Save this picture!At the heart of the pavilion is the commissioned in-situ sound piece, developed in collaboration with sound artist and field recorder Ludwig Berger. The composition weaves recordings from distinctive locations across Luxembourg, inviting listeners to experience space through an auditory lens. Focusing on multi-perspective field recordings, the piece examines how ongoing sustainable and digital transformations are reshaping the country's landscape. Using sound as a tool for spatial and territorial analysis, the project introduces the concept of ecotone, a transitional space between two ecosystems. The field recording process explored liminal spaces to examine the impact of human intervention on the environment, incorporating a range of voices, from the hum of data centers to the silence of biodiversity loss. A sound teaser for Ecotonalities: No Other Home Than the In-Between (2025) by Ludwig Berger can be found here. Related Article Pakistan Unveils (Fr)Agile Systems Pavilion for the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale Inspired by Bernhard Leitner's research on Sound Spaces, the pavilion offers an immersive environment designed to transport visitors into a sonic experience. While listening may seem automatic, the curators emphasize that focusing solely on sound can be surprisingly revealing. Sonic Investigations presents a collection of original content, including a sound piece, written texts, and fieldwork documentation. The pavilion's scenography was designed with minimal intervention, aiming to create an optimal acoustic setting for the Luxembourg soundscapes. The material strategy prioritizes rental, reuse, and recycling, utilizing standard construction elements with minimal modifications.Save this picture!The project also includes a book, edited in collaboration with philosopher and musicologist Peter Szendy. Ecotones: Investigating Sounds and Territories extends the discussion on sound's role in territorial studies beyond Luxembourg. It features a curated collection of texts from different disciplines, examining spaces, territories, and ecologies through sonic perspectives. Structured in three chapters including essays, fiction, and case studies, the book explores sound as a perceptual medium and its political implications, narrates sonic practices and methodologies, and investigates field experiments portraying sonic entanglements in specific contexts. The graphic identity of the project and book was designed by Pierre Vanni.Save this picture!The curators' program also includes three events at the pavilion: an off-site sound performance by Ludwig Berger featuring readings from the book, a short residency with Gaia Ginevra Giorgi culminating in a performance within the pavilion's immersive space, and an audio walk through the Venice lagoon led by Nicola Di Croce. Other contributions from Luxembourg at the Venice Architecture Biennale include the "Down to Earth" exhibition, which explored the "wild imaginaries of extraction-driven growth" in 2023, and the "Homes for Luxembourg" exhibition on modular and reversible living in 2021. Additionally, this year's Swiss Pavilion in the Giardini will feature a sound installation exploring the work of Lisbeth Sachs, while the German Pavilion will present an immersive experience as a call to action on the climate crisis.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Antonia Pieiro. "The Luxembourg Contribution at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 Investigates Territories Through the Medium of Sound " 06 Mar 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1027667/the-luxembourg-contribution-at-the-venice-architecture-biennale-2025-investigates-territories-through-the-medium-of-sound&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream