html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" The Bahrain Pavilion and US architecture studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro2025 Venice Architecture Biennale for the best national participation and participant in the 19th exhibition, Intelligens Natural Artificial Collective.The awards were presented at the awards ceremony on Saturday 10 May 2025 at Ca’ Giustinian, Venice.The International Jury of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia composed of Hans Ulrich Obrist - president, Switzerland, Paola Antonelli - Italy; and Mpho Matsipa - South Africa.The Kingdom of Bahrain was awarded the Golden Lion for the best National Participation. The Pavilion presents a workable solution during extremely hot weather. The Bahrain Pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for the best National Participation. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia"Architecture must address the dual challenges of environmental resilience and sustainability. The ingenious solution can be deployed in public spaces and in locations where people must live and work outdoors in conditions of extreme heat. The pavilion uses traditional methods of passive cooling typical of the region and reminiscence of wind towers and shaded courtyards," the designers remarked. The Bahrain Pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for the best National Participation. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaThis innovative concept can be applied in public spaces and locations where people need to live and work outdoors in extremely hot weather. The pavilion recalls the design of wind towers and shaded courtyards, while incorporating traditional passive cooling techniques that are well-suited to the region.Canal Café won the best participation in the 19th Exhibition by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky, Davide Oldani. Image © Marco Zorzanello, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaThe Golden Lion for the best participation in the 19th Exhibition went to Canal Café by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky, Davide Oldani. Canal Café is an example of how Venice may serve as a testing ground for ideas about how to live on the water while also enhancing the city's public area. Future conjecture regarding the lagoon and other lagoons is also encouraged. Additionally, it is a significant parallel track that has been rich in transdisciplinary experimentation since the beginning of DS+R's activity. Canal Café won the best participation in the 19th Exhibition by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Natural Systems Utilities, SODAI, Aaron Betsky, Davide Oldani. Image © Marco Zorzanello, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaAccording to the team, they also recognize the remarkable perseverance of the Canal Cafè project, which began nearly two decades ago. It serves as an illustration of how a biennale may be an ongoing endeavor that extends well beyond the actual event.Two special mentions have also been awarded to The Holy See Pavilion and the British Pavilion, which was collaboratively created with involving curators from both the UK and Kenya.Special Mention as National ParticipationOpera aperta. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaThe Opera aperta pavilion enables visitors to take part in the creation of meaning, evoking a 1962 book by Umberto Eco. This particular mention honors the establishment of a forum for dialogue, compromise, and healing. Through several degrees of renovation requiring a wide range of labor skills, Opera Aperta will rejuvenate an existing deconsecrated church."A living practice of good care and collective care," as the team refers to it. Opera aperta facilitates cross-cultural interaction.Special Mention as National ParticipationThe British Pavilion propels a discussion on restitution and renewal between Kenya and Great Britain. The exhibit exposes architecture as being characterized by extraction, which leads to environmental deterioration and inequity. The jury observes efforts to envision a different relationship between geology and architecture. The Venice Fellowship program is another noteworthy effort to promote knowledge sharing among the three nations—Venice, Great Britain, and Kenya—according to the panel.Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500 won the Silver Lion. Image Image © Luca Capuano, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaKate Crawford and Vladan Joler's Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500 won the Silver Lion for a promising contribution in the 19th Exhibition.Making the unseen visible in time and place is the significance of Kate Crawford and The CreaTures Lab's exhibition, Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500.The co-evolution of the digital and social infrastructures spanning centuries is depicted in this expansive graphic statement. Understanding the connections between technology and power—colonialism, militarization, automation, and enclosure—is more important now than ever. It provides a wealth of modern technological history. This remarkable diagram is a tool for creating alternate futures and better understanding the present.The Alternative Urbanism: The Self-Organized Markets of Lagos by Tosin Oshinowo won a Special Mention. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaThe Alternative Urbanism: The Self-Organized Markets of Lagos by Tosin Oshinowo, which received Special Mention in the Corderie, Arsenale, provides an overview of the marketplaces for the processing of garbage from an industrialized economy. The documentation is a promising step toward more study and knowledge creation about African markets and the significance of markets as innovation prototypes. These markets are important components of a healthy ecosystem that is worth researching due to their adaptive circularity.Elephant Chapel by Boonserm Premthada won the Special Mention. Image © Marco Zorzanello, courtesy of La Biennale di VeneziaAnother Special Mention went to Elephant Chapel by Boonserm Premthada in the Corderie, Arsenale. Elephant Chapel, as it serves as an excellent example of how to construct a long-lasting brick building using biomaterials. Elephant dung is used in Boonsem Premthada architecture to save material consumption. Their art is in harmony with the natural world. In a Thai province where people and elephants have lived side by side for millennia, Premthada constructs an outdoor sanctuary named Elephant World. The project honors the partnership while maintaining its status and background.Furthermore, the American philosopher Donna Haraway and the Italian architect and designer Italo Rota have respectively been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and the Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in Memoriam of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.The decision was approved by the Board of Directors of La Biennale chaired by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, upon recommendation by Carlo Ratti, Curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition.Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. The top image in the article: The Bahrain Pavilion was awarded the Golden Lion for the best National Participation. Image © Andrea Avezzù, courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.> via Venice Architecture Biennale