2025 promises to be a landmark in architecture, heralding a vibrant renaissance of creativity and exploration. As societies confront challenges such as climate change, rapid urbanization, and technological evolution, architecture is both a mirror to these dynamics and a compass pointing toward a sustainable and inclusive future. This year's architectural calendar offers abundant opportunities to celebrate the discipline's transformative power — from boundary-pushing festivals to thought-provoking exhibitions that explore pressing cultural and environmental narratives.
From well-established biennials to inaugural gatherings, including the World Architecture Festival 2025, Desert X Al Ula, and the COP Climate Conference, the 2025 calendar highlights themes such as sustainability, heritage, and community. These events underscore architecture's unique ability to shape a better future, addressing global challenges while honoring cultural diversity and design ingenuity.
Read on to discover a curated selection of architecture-focused events throughout the year.
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Saudi Arabia: January 25 - May 25, 2025
Set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025 offers a profound exploration of Islamic artistic heritage and its contemporary expressions. This edition continues its mission to bridge past and present by showcasing a diverse range of artworks, including calligraphy, ceramics, textiles, and cutting-edge installations, celebrating the richness and evolution of Islamic art. The Biennale will unfold at the Western Hajj Terminal, a UNESCO-recognized architectural marvel, providing a striking backdrop for the event. Through exhibitions, workshops, and discussions, it aims to foster global dialogue, emphasizing the cultural significance and enduring influence of Islamic art in shaping identities and narratives across the world.
Milan Design Week + Salone del Mobile 2025
Italy: April 8-13, 2025
As one of the world's most celebrated design events, Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile bring together creativity and innovation across furniture, interior design, and architecture. The 2025 theme, "Connected Worlds", explores how design can bridge physical and digital spaces while fostering human connections. Set throughout the city and at the Rho Fiera Milano exhibition grounds, this event is a global hub for groundbreaking design and cultural exchange.
EXPO 2025 Osaka
Japan: April 13 - October 13, 2025
Set on the man-made island of Yumeshima in Osaka, Expo 2025 revolves around the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives". The event aims to explore how humanity can achieve its full potential by addressing global challenges such as sustainability, health, and technological innovation. Structured around three sub-themes — Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives — the Expo envisions a collaborative future shaped by creativity and shared global values.
With participation from over 150 countries and regions, Expo Osaka 2025 offers a platform to showcase cutting-edge ideas, technologies, and cultural expressions, creating a shared vision for a harmonious and thriving future society.
19th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale
Italy: May 10 - November 23, 2025
Curated by architect and engineer Carlo Ratti, the 2025 Venice Biennale explores the theme of intelligence in its many forms — natural, artificial, and collective — and their interplay in shaping architecture and the built environment. With architecture at the center but linked to disciplines such as biology, data science, and planetary sciences, this edition delves into architecture's role in addressing the climate crisis.
The exhibition challenges architects to act as "mutagens", initiating transformative processes that adapt to the environment with limited resources and knowledge. Through a collection of design proposals, experiments, and urban plans, it questions whether architecture can transition from being a major contributor to environmental degradation to offering substantial and actionable solutions.
XXIV Triennale di Milano 2025, Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et de l'Architecture Moderne
Italy: May 13 - November 9, 2025
Titled "Inequalities", the 24th Milan Triennale explores the urgent challenges of inequality and its multifaceted impacts on urban spaces, human bodies, and communities. Curated by Triennale Milano under the guidance of Stefano Boeri and an advisory committee, the exhibition spans geopolitical, biopolitical, and social dimensions of inequality. The event integrates exhibitions, site-specific installations, and an extensive public program, fostering global dialogue among architects, designers, and thinkers. With contributions from international governments and organizations, this edition highlights advanced political projects and innovative design responses to the disparities shaping our world today.
London Design Biennale
UK: June 5-29, 2025
Set in the iconic Somerset House, the fifth edition of the London Design Biennale will unfold under the theme "Surface Reflections". Curated by acclaimed designer and artist Dr. Samuel Ross MBE, founder of A-COLD-WALL* and SR_A, this year's theme delves into the interplay between internal experiences and external influences shaping creative ideas. The event will spotlight groundbreaking design innovation, creativity, and research, fostering global collaboration and inspiring solutions for pressing challenges.
Concentrico 11
Spain: June 19 - June 24, 2025
Taking place in Logroño, Spain, the Concentrico Festival transforms urban spaces into interactive installations and architectural interventions. This event features installations, pavilions, and exhibitions scattered throughout historic and contemporary settings, encouraging visitors to explore the evolving relationship between architecture, design, and public space. The festival fosters dialogue between architecture and its users, offering thought-provoking perspectives on public space and its role in daily life.
Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2025
South Korea: September 1 - October 31, 2025
Curated by Thomas Heatherwick, the 5th edition of the Seoul Biennale centers its narrative on "Radically More Human". This year's edition will explore how architecture can spark joy and forge connections in urban environments, inviting participants worldwide to contribute to its vision of more sustainable and emotionally resonant cities.
Since its founding in 2017, the Seoul Biennale has served as a testbed for innovative urban solutions, attracting nearly 3 million participants over four editions.
Bukhara Biennial 2025
Uzbekistan: September 5 - November 20, 2025
The Bukhara Biennial, titled "Recipes for Broken Hearts", explores the intersection of architecture, art, and cultural heritage. Situated in one of Central Asia's oldest cities, the biennial investigates how tradition and contemporary practices can coexist and inform each other. Featuring site-specific installations, performances, and scholarly discussions, this event reflects on architecture's role in preserving identity while fostering innovation.
Chicago Architecture Biennial 2025
USA: Semptember 12, 2025 - February 28, 2026
The Chicago Architecture Biennial 2025 (CAB 6) marks a decade of exploring the evolving role of architecture. Under the theme "Shift: Architecture in Times of Radical Change", the Biennial will challenge global practitioners to address pressing issues such as ecological resilience, collective housing, and migration. Led by Florencia Rodriguez, the first Latin American director in CAB's history, this milestone edition will celebrate its legacy while pushing the boundaries of architectural discourse.
Copenhagen Architecture Biennial 2025
Denmark: September 18 - October 19, 2025
The inaugural Copenhagen Architecture Biennial debuts with the theme "Slow Down". This theme encourages reflection on architecture's role in fostering mindful, sustainable, and equitable urban environments challenging fast-paced, unsustainable architectural practices. With exhibitions, workshops, and public programs throughout the city, the biennial aims to challenge rapid development trends and promote thoughtful, human-centered design approaches.
BAL - BAL Bienal de Arquitectura Latinoamericana 2025
Spain: September 2025
Held in Pamplona, Spain, the BAL 2025 highlights emerging talent in Latin American architecture. This biennial serves as a platform to showcase innovative projects that address regional challenges, from urbanization to social equity. With a robust lineup of exhibitions, lectures, and workshops, the event connects professionals, students, and the public in a celebration of architectural diversity and ingenuity.
Oslo Architecture Triennale 2025
Norway: September 2025
Under the thought-provoking theme, "What if nature comes first?", the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2025 promises to redefine the boundaries between urban development and the natural world. This edition will delve into innovative ways to prioritize ecological values within architectural and urban planning practices. Through a diverse lineup of exhibitions, workshops, and dialogues, the event aims to foster global collaboration and spark bold ideas in sustainable design. As the leading architectural festival in the Nordic region, it invites architects, urbanists, and the public to critically examine and reimagine the interplay between human habitats and the environment, inspiring actionable solutions for a more sustainable future.
Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2025
Portugal: October 2 - Dezember 8, 2025
Under the theme "How Heavy is a City?", the 7th Lisbon Architecture Triennale delves into the complex transformations shaping contemporary cities and their planetary context. This edition opens a platform for learning, experimentation, and debate on the future of cohabitation, addressing the emerging forms of cooperation and mutuality in architecture. With a focus on reassembling architecture's role as a driver of collective territorial change, the event encourages curiosity and transgression while exploring pathways toward more equitable and sustainable urban futures.
Mextropoli
Mexico: September 2025
Celebrated as the largest Architecture and City Festival in the Americas, MEXTRÓPOLI annually gathers over 80,000 attendees to collectively rethink and transform urban spaces. Mexico City's historic center becomes a dynamic arena for dialogue, cultural exchange, and activation of public spaces, showcasing architecture's vital role in shaping urban life. A centerpiece of the festival is the highly anticipated Arquine Competition, which calls for innovative pavilion designs that act as focal points for discussion and reflection on architecture and urbanism.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topics: 100 Years of Modernism. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and architecture projects. We invite you to learn more about our ArchDaily Topics. And, as always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.
