The Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, represented by Sandi Paucic and Rachele Giudici Legittimo, has announced that the Swiss Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 will host the exhibition "The final form is determined by the architect on site," curated by Elena Chiavi, Kathrin Füglister, Amy Perkins, Axelle Stiefel, and Myriam Uzor. This all-female team poses the question: What if Lisbeth Sachs, rather than Bruno Giacometti, had designed the Swiss Pavilion? The exhibition will explore this question by reviving one of the iconic works of Lisbeth Sachs, one of the first registered female architects in Switzerland and a contemporary of Giacometti.
The current Swiss Pavilion, located in the Giardini della Biennale, was designed by architect Bruno Giacometti in 1951 and inaugurated during the 26th Architecture Biennale. This modern building occupies a corner of the garden and features two main volumes with adjoining galleries and an enclosed courtyard. While the previous edition of the exhibition focused on the architecture of the building itself, this year's proposal takes a speculative turn, addressing the historical underrepresentation of women architects in the Venice Biennale pavilions. The curatorial team, composed of five women with expertise in communications, space renovation, and teaching, plans to recreate the art hall designed by Lisbeth Sachs for the 1958 Swiss Exhibition for Women's Work (SAFFA) in Zurich, presenting it as a multi-sensory experience.
The exhibition seeks to immerse the visitor in Sachs' vision to explore her influence on the design of the building. The experience consists of an immersive spatial memory, where the architect's original project is linked to a sound system, described by Pro Helvetia as "resounding architecture." Thus, past and present voices aim to evoke both the ethical and aesthetic themes of the mid-twentieth century, with a particular focus on Sachs. Through sound navigation, the curatorial project promises to foster an intimate and deep bond with her work and "reveal a vibrant dimension" of architecture and landscape.
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The French Pavilion Explores Concepts of “Living With” at the 2025 Venice Architecture BiennaleJuxtaposing Sachs' work with Giacometti's brings two architectural visions into coexistence, encouraging visitors to reflect on the need for inclusivity in architectural history and today's practices. This intervention is not just physical but also temporal, connecting architectural legacies while engaging the visitor's perceptions of continuity. - Curators Elena Chiavi, Kathrin Füglister, Amy Perkins, Axelle Stiefel, and Myriam Uzor
The 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2025, curated by Carlo Ratti and centered around the theme "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective," will be open to the public from May 10 to November 23, 2025. The Swiss exhibit will be accompanied by a side program at both the Swiss Pavilion and Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi. Other Giardini pavilions have already announced the themes of their exhibitions, including France, with a project focused on architecture's ability to address global challenges, and Spain, with a proposal centered on the decarbonization of Spanish architecture.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the 2025 Venice Biennale.
