Overview
The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale has officially awarded its prestigious Golden Lions, honoring excellence and innovation in architectural thought and practice. The winners were announced during a ceremony at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of the Biennale. The US-based firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro won the Golden Lion for best participation in the international exhibition, while the Kingdom of Bahrain was recognized for best national pavilion.
Why This Recognition Matters
This year’s awards celebrate projects that go beyond conventional architecture, engaging directly with climate, ecology, social structures, and public use. Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Canal Cafe demonstrates how Venice itself can act as a living experiment for urban life on water, while Bahrain’s Heatwave pavilion addresses urgent environmental challenges through practical architectural intervention. These awards emphasize how architecture can offer adaptive, creative, and deeply contextual solutions to today’s crises.
Jury Panel
The 2025 jury consisted of influential figures in global architecture and design:
- Hans Ulrich Obrist – Swiss curator and artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries
- Paola Antonelli – Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA
- Mpho Matsipa – South African architect, curator, and urbanist
More on ArchUp:
Key Highlights
- Golden Lion for Best Participation (International Exhibition):
Canal Cafe by Diller Scofidio + Renfro – A hybrid between espresso bar and laboratory, this installation purifies water from the Arsenale lagoon to brew coffee for Biennale visitors. It challenges perceptions of water reuse and public infrastructure in a city defined by canals.
- Golden Lion for Best National Participation:
Heatwave – Bahrain Pavilion, curated by Andrea Faraguna. The installation features a low ceiling and integrated ventilation system to cool the seating space below. It explores sustainable comfort in hot climates and proposes a deployable model for construction sites and urban public spaces in extreme temperatures.
Photo by Ishaq Madan
- Special Mentions:
- British Pavilion – GBR: Geology of Britannic Repair: A collaboration between UK and Kenyan curators investigating the legacy of extraction in British architectural identity and environmental degradation.
Photo by Chris Lane
- Holy See Pavilion – Celebrated for inviting international architects to carry out symbolic repairs in a deconsecrated church, emphasizing architecture’s restorative potential.
- Elephant Chapel by Boonserm Premthada – Features arches made from bio-bricks composed of elephant dung, highlighting alternative materials in construction.
Photo by Marco Zorzanello
- Alternative Urbanism by Tosin Oshinowo – A compelling film exploring self-organized market structures in Lagos and how informal urbanism shapes African cities.
Photo by Paul Raftery
Awards for Emerging Talent and Lifetime Legacy
- Silver Lion for a Promising Young Participant:
Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power Since 1500 by Kate Crawford and Vladan Joler. The project traces the entwined evolution of social and digital infrastructures since the 16th century through a data-rich installation on dual black walls.
- Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement:
Awarded to Donna Haraway, the American scholar known for her groundbreaking work on feminist theory, technology, and science studies. - Special Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (In Memoriam):
Posthumous recognition granted to Italo Rota, the prolific Italian architect and thinker, who passed away in 2023 at age 70.
Photos: Iwan Baan
