Alejandro Aravenas Elemental and Holcim Collaborate on Carbon-Neutral Housing at the 2025 Venice BiennaleSave this picture!Villa Verde Housing / ELEMENTAL. Image Suyin ChiaFrom May 10 to November 23, 2025, a carbon-neutral housing project designed by Elemental, the firm led by Pritzker Prize winner Alejandro Aravena, will be showcased at the Venice Architecture Biennale. The project aims to combine the Chilean office's expertise in social housing with the construction products of Holcim (the company behind the Holcim Foundation) to create a prototype for resilient and affordable housing.The design incorporates a specific type of low-carbon concrete, which aims to emit 30% less CO than standard concrete. The prototype will be featured in the Time Space Existence exhibition, organized by the European Cultural Centre.The goal of the project is to test the sustainability of a housing prototype in response to the ongoing climate and humanitarian crises.Save this picture!Holcim's concrete, called ECOPact, is a recyclable mix of cementitious components that can also incorporate demolition materials, depending on local construction regulations. While no public details about the design have been released, the goal is for the model to be scalable. A logic that, despite popular criticism, defines Aravena's most emblematic project, Quinta Monroy, which has been replicated in other housing developments in Chile and Mexico, such as Villa Verde and Monterrey. Related Article Women-Led Architecture Practices: Redefining Urban Housing Design at the Time Space Existence Exhibition in Venice If we don't build billions of square meters, the humanitarian crisis escalates; but if we build, we worsen the environmental crisis. - Alejandro Aravena Save this picture!In the context of the Venice Biennale, this marks Holcim's third collaboration with renowned architectural firms in exploring new construction technologies. At the 2023 edition, they presented the Essential Home design by the Norman Foster Foundation, while in 2021, they partnered with Zaha Hadid Architects, the Block Research Group at ETH, and incremental3D to build Striatus, a 3D-printed concrete bridge. The company is also behind the Holcim Foundation Awards, whose call for entries for sustainable design projects at any scale will remain open until February 11, 2025.We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorCite: Antonia Pieiro. "Alejandro Aravenas Elemental and Holcim Collaborate on Carbon-Neutral Housing at the 2025 Venice Biennale" 31 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026339/alejandro-aravenas-elemental-and-holcim-collaborate-on-carbon-neutral-housing-at-the-2025-venice-biennale&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