Organised by the European Cultural Centre Italy (ECC Italy), the architecture biennial exhibition gathered 207 projects from exhibitors representing 52 countries. This year’s edition ran from 10 May until 23 November across three venues: Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and Marinaressa Gardens. International architects, designers, artists, academics, and researchers were prompted to respond to the themes of Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse, offering a window into current pressing environmental, social, and cultural challenges shaping our time.
Nearly 370,000 visitors experienced this year’s projects over the past six months, marking an increase of approximately 20,000 attendees compared to the previous edition in 2023. ECC’s online presence continued to expand, recording an average 15% rise in social media following across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and surpassing 137,500 website visits. Time Space Existence was covered locally and internationally by notable media outlets such as AD Italia, The Architects' Journal, Dezeen, Frame, Interni, Living Corriere, Wallpaper* – a selection of which can be found here. ECC Italy has also teamed up with ArchDaily, The Architectural Review, designboom, STIRworld, Domus, Platform, and Venezia News as this year’s Media Partners for the dissemination of the exhibition with their passionate readerships. With the valuable support of these partners, the show reached industry experts and architecture aficionados both globally and locally, engaging readers in the dialogues emerging from the group show.
ECC Awards
Unveiled during the closing day of Time Space Existence on 23 November 2025, the ECC Awards celebrate outstanding contributions to contemporary architecture, design, and spatial practice, honouring projects that demonstrate exceptional originality, execution, storytelling, and engagement with the biennial’s key themes.
This year, the ECC organising team identified 21 shortlisted projects from across the exhibition’s participants and invited an external jury to select the winners in four categories: Architecture, Design, University Project, and Art Installation. The jury of industry experts was composed of Ivan Blasi, Director of the EUmies Awards; Amit Gupta, Founder & Editor in Chief at STIRworld; Christele Harrouk, Editor in Chief at ArchDaily; Ursula Schwitalla, BDA ao, Honorary Senator Tübingen University; Martha Thorne, Writer, Curator, Consultant and Urbanist.
Below are the winners of the 2025 edition of the ECC Awards:
- Architecture Project Category – the ECC Awards goes to Celina Abba and Enrique Cavelier with the project Plantation Futures, exhibited at Palazzo Mora
- University Project Category – the ECC Awards goes to Slovak University of Technology, VA Gregor Smatanova with the project Manor and small noble houses in Slovakia, exhibited at Palazzo Mora
- Design Project Category – the ECC Awards goes to Polyhedral Structures Laboratory, Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania, Masoud Akbarzadeh with Sika with the project Diamanti, exhibited at Palazzo Bembo
- Art Installation Category – the ECC Awards goes to WHYIXD with the project Tender Soul of Ocean: A Marine Climate Preservation Initiative, exhibited at Palazzo Bembo
- Special Mention – a special mention goes to Semillas with the project Territory of Wisdom and the Museo Itinerante del Bosque, exhibited at Palazzo Mora
To find out more about this year's ECC Awards, you can check out the dedicated web page at the following link.
Events Programme
Time Space Existence 2025 kicked off with a Welcoming Event at Marinaressa Gardens on 8 May, featuring an introduction to the exhibition by Rachele De Stefano, Head of Architecture at ECC Italy, and speeches by Susan Jones, FAIA, Founder and Principal Architect at atelierjones, and Dr. Cyril R. Clarke, Executive Vice President and Provost at Virginia Tech. The opening week was also complemented by talks and roundtable discussions, offering visitors deeper insights into the show.
Over the course of the six-month exhibition, a variety of practitioners and academics further explored the main themes of the exhibition, presenting case studies and engaging in discussions on pressing issues in architecture and design. ECC Italy curated two series of events which brought together numerous speakers to examine the challenges facing the built environment and communities today.
Weaving Dialogues
Making its debut in October, Weaving Dialogues was designed to enrich ECC Italy’s biennial architecture exhibition as a space for exchange and reflection. Held on 9 and 10 October at Palazzo Michiel in Venice, the sessions extended the exhibition’s themes of Repair, Regenerate, and Reuse into broader conversations, highlighting green construction, nature-based solutions, public space, and community regeneration. By bringing together practitioners, researchers, and the public, the programme fostered networking, showcased diverse projects from around the world, and strengthened collective awareness, inspiring dialogue and collaborative approaches beyond the exhibition itself.
Shaping the City
The sixth edition of Shaping the City took place at Palazzo Michiel on 21 and 22 November and was streamed online. The conference brought together academics, architects, urban planners, and policymakers to address urgent, interconnected urban challenges, focusing on housing and community. By presenting global housing models and community-led initiatives, the forum highlighted innovative approaches that blend design, governance, and civic engagement, emphasising that housing and community are deeply intertwined foundations for more just, inclusive, and sustainable cities.
International speakers included Tatiana Bilbao from Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, Mads Birgens from Cobe, Sabine Pollak and Michael Obrist, curators of the Austrian Pavilion 2025 at the Venice Biennale, Ludwig Engel from HouseEurope!, Wolfgang Renner from Vienna Municipality, Peter MacKeith from the University of Arkansas and curator of the American Pavilion 2025 at the Venice Biennale, Abdullah Alsanea from Foster + Partners.
Re-watch Shaping the City Day 1 here and Day 2 here.
Collaborations & Special Projects
ArchDaily New Practices exhibition
Born from an ongoing collaboration with ArchDaily, this year the online platform organised the first-ever retrospective on New Practices, curated by ArchDaily in partnership with ECC Italy. This annual global survey highlights the work, ethos, and mission of innovative emerging architectural practices worldwide. The exhibition at Palazzo Mora, featuring six practitioners selected from previous winners of ArchDaily’s programme, presented voices working at the intersection of architecture and its expanding frontiers, showcasing the diversity that is reshaping the discipline. The six practices on show were Taller General (Ecuador), Estúdio Flume, led by Noelia Monteiro (Brazil), Willow Technologies led by Mae-ling Lokko (Ghana), Studio Zewde (United States), Wiki World (China), and Roofscapes (France), each offering a compelling vision of architecture as a tool for positive change.
Discover more about ArchDaily New Practices
EUmies Awards - Young Talent 2025
The European Cultural Centre was honoured to be the partner in Venice for the EUmies Awards – Young Talent 2025, the awards supporting recently graduated architects, urban planners, and landscape architects who will shape the future of our built environment. Presented as a Collateral Event of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, their exhibition was hosted at Palazzo Mora from 10 May to 23 November 2025, with an award ceremony and debate held at Palazzo Michiel in June. Organised by Fundació Mies van der Rohe with the support of the EU’s Creative Europe programme, the EUmies Awards celebrate excellence in design and highlight how quality architecture contributes to sustainable development and citizens’ well-being.
Discover more about EUmies Awards – Young Talent
DIVIA Award 2025
ECC Italy was proud to collaborate with Diversity in Architecture (DIVIA) to present the prestigious DIVIA Award in Venice, which promotes diversity in architecture by celebrating women professionals whose work demonstrates excellence, social engagement, and forward-thinking approaches. For the 2025 edition, an international jury selected six finalists from 25 nominees – Patcharada Inplang (Sher Maker, Thailand), Trân Thį Ngų Ngôn (Tropical Space, Vietnam, Izaskun Chinchilla (Izaskun Chinchilla Architects, Spain), Surella Segú (El Cielo, Mexico), Carolina Rodas & Carla Chávez (Rama Estudio, Ecuador), and Cazú Zegers (Cazú Zegers Arquitectura, Chile) – recognised for their outstanding design, leadership, and innovation. Their projects were showcased in an exhibition organised by DIVIA at Palazzo Mora from 10 May to 23 November 2025 and featured in a catalogue published by Hatje Cantz, with the winner receiving a €10,000 prize announced at a special ceremony on 10 May.
Discover more about the DIVIA Award 2025
Blurring the Lines
Since 2018, ECC Italy has partnered with Blurring the Lines, the non-profit promoting photography and education, hosting exhibitions, conferences, and awards. This year Nesie Junyi Wang, the 2024 Blurring the Lines award winner, showcased Rocks, Roots, Unearth in Time Space Existence. Through a mixed-media approach combining photography, video, and copper etchings, Wang delves into the complex relationship between humans and their environment, exploring the paradox of copper mining in China and its impact on the land.
Beyond the exhibition
Reaching a wider and international audience, the exhibition was experienced beyond its physical spaces. Time Space Existence was narrated extensively online through insightful editorials and exclusive content on the exhibition’s website as well as social media platforms. The show was documented through videos and photographs, and further enriched by a series of interviews that delved into the concepts behind the selected works on display. This year’s conversations feature visionary architects Alejandro Aravena and David Adjaye, who share the thinking behind their contributions to Time Space Existence. Aravena, together with his studio ELEMENTAL and in collaboration with Holcim, presented the Basic Services Unit project at Marinaressa Gardens and Palazzo Mora. Meanwhile, Adjaye Associates showcased the International Children’s Cancer Research Centre at Palazzo Bembo.
Additionally, Time Space Existence was made available digitally thanks to the release of virtual tours which included details on the works exhibited and information about each participant. As an extension of the exhibition itself, the catalogue of the seventh edition of Time Space Existence, curated and designed by the ECC Italy team, accompanied and guided the spectator through the group show. It was printed in two different versions: a collectable hardcover publication and a paperback one, and is available digitally and downloadable at the following link.
