Photo: Pihlmann Architects.
Build of site
Exhibition
2025
Location
The International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia held in Venice, Italy
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Under the headline Build of Site, the Danish contribution to the19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2025 explores how rethinking and reusing existing buildings and resources can address some of architecture’s most pressing challenges.
The exhibition is curated by architect Søren Pihlmann, who, building on the overarching theme of the Biennale Architettura 2025’s, “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.”, explores how we can discover new value in existing buildings. The exhibition in the Danish pavilion exhibits hands-on maintenance of the building that reuses the resources already present in the building. Søren Pihlmann demonstrates hyper-local methods for reclaiming building materials, and the exhibition is framed as a technical, aesthetic communication of an ongoing process – as a work in progress.
As part of his curation, Søren Pihlmann has conducted a comprehensive study of the Danish pavilion to increase the usability of materials already present in the building. By combining existing building materials with unconventional bio-based binders, the exhibition demonstrates how we can use advanced technology to promote methods that use bio-based and recycled building materials. This approach highlights the potential in surplus materials previously considered waste, demonstrating a new architectural practice that uses and draws inspiration from existing on-site materials.
Photo: Hampus Berndtson
Reframing Material Value
“We’ve already created everything we need. That’s why we must be better at understanding and finding value in what already exists,” explains Søren Pihlmann.
Build of Site challenges traditional perceptions of material value by showing how existing components from past construction projects can be given new life. The exhibition aims to inspire the world to adopt an approach driven by resource awareness and respect for the inherent qualities and potential of a site.
Visitors to the Danish pavilion are invited to experience a snapshot of an experimental process, where they can observe how the building’s own resources are repurposed for new uses. Here, technical and architectural processes are showcased, giving visitors access to a creative knowledge process normally hidden from view. The exhibition thus demonstrates the economic, environmental, and aesthetic potential of reusing familiar resources in new and original ways.
An Open-Source Vision for the Future of Construction
The exhibition has been developed in collaboration with leading academic institutions, craftsmen, and material specialists. This interdisciplinary collaboration unites technological innovation with local resource use.
Build of Site provides insight into an innovative approach to sustainable construction and highlights its potential as a model that can be applied to buildings worldwide. By expanding the definition of architectural value, the Danish pavilion invites visitors to experience and rethink how architecture can contribute to a sustainable future.
Curatorial team
Søren Pihlmann, architect MAA, is the founder of the architecture studio pihlmann architects. Søren Pihlmann is well-renowned for his focus on the sensuous and honest architectural experience, be it within the repurposing old industrial buildings, temporary pavilions or single-family homes. Søren Pihlmann explores the potential of repurposed materials and how we can create an aesthetic based on the new sustainability requirements.
The exhibition will be created in collaboration with a carefully selected curatorial team from e.g. Danish architecture schools, construction industry research centers, builders, manufacturers and material specialists. The experts will contribute specific knowledge within their field, which will ensure that the exhibition’s spatial approach is based on a solid foundation of expert knowledge.
About the Danish pavilion
The Danish Ministry of Culture owns the Danish pavilion in Venice that is used for the International Architecture and Art Exhibitions organized by La Biennale di Venezia. The Danish Ministry of Culture has designated Danish Architecture Centre as the commissioner for the official Danish contribution to the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
The project will be carried out with funding from, among others, the Danish Ministry of Culture and the Danish Arts Foundation architecture committee (Statens Kunstfonds Arkitekturudvalg).
The International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia will open in Venice in 2025.
Click here to read more about the Danish pavilion.