Bahrain Pavilion wins the Golden Lion at Venice Biennale 2025

The Kingdom of Bahrain was awarded the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia for its pavilion “Heatwave”. Curated by Berlin-based architect Andrea Faraguna, the pavilion responds to one of today’s most pressing global challenges: extreme heat. Installed in the Artiglierie section of the Arsenale, “Heatwave” presents a full-scale outdoor passive cooling installation, offering a scalable and adaptable solution for public spaces affected by rising temperatures.

Commissioned by His Excellency Shaikh Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, the pavilion draws from traditional Bahraini cooling techniques and reimagines them for contemporary urban contexts, emphasising environmental resilience and social sustainability. The Venetian-born, Berlin-based curator, Andrea Faraguna’s practice spans architecture, scenography, and behavioural design, with teaching experience at the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

Architecture as Climate Infrastructure

As heatwaves intensify around the world, Heatwave recognises the critical need for architecture to evolve beyond aesthetics and programme to become environmental infrastructure that responds to rising temperatures while addressing issues of social equity. With Bahrain being one of the countries most affected by extreme heat, the pavilion focuses on how passive cooling systems and shading structures can improve public life. It proposes scalable and adaptable solutions that enhance thermal comfort in urban spaces that are increasingly stressed by climate extremes.

The design at Venice draws inspiration from Bahrain’s traditional cooling methods while applying contemporary innovation. At its core, the pavilion integrates a geothermal well and a solar chimney, forming a thermo-hygrometric axis that connects the subterranean environment with the ambient atmosphere above. This axis creates a narrow, elemental space defined by a modular floor and a suspended ceiling, hosting visitors while carefully framing the surrounding landscape.

Although the geothermal system could not be fully replicated at the Artiglierie dell’Arsenale due to excavation limitations, the concept is preserved using mechanical ventilation. Air is drawn in through a canal-facing window, filtered through a complex system of ducts and nozzles, and released into the pavilion to create a stable microclimate that mimics natural passive cooling.

A Scalable Modular System for the Gulf and Beyond

The architectural structure is defined by a precisely aligned floor and cantilevered ceiling of identical proportions, held aloft by a single central column. Conceived as a modular unit, it is easily replicable and adaptable to various urban conditions. Structural engineer Mario Monotti and thermomechanical expert Alexander Puzrin brought this concept to life, combining cutting-edge engineering with an understanding of traditional environmental practices.

The research and findings presented in Heatwave have particular relevance for outdoor workspaces and construction sites in the Gulf region. In these spaces, extreme temperatures pose not only technical but also social challenges. The pavilion suggests deploying modular and thermally regulated rest areas, providing shaded spaces that offer workers both comfort and dignity. In doing so, it underscores how architecture can be a tool for both climate resilience and social equity.

An Abstract Landscape of Labor and Climate

In Venice, the pavilion’s themes are extended through a visual landscape composed of soil and sandbags. This minimal but powerful intervention evokes the aesthetics of a construction site—connecting the climate crisis to the human labor that sustains our built environment. It is a reminder that architectural responses to climate change must also engage with issues of fairness and access, especially in the regions most impacted by environmental extremes.

To further support and expand the pavilion’s impact, a publication accompanies the installation. It includes numerical analyses, technical research, expert essays, and historical evidence that contextualize the pavilion within global architectural and climatic discourses. The publication moves beyond speculative design to ground Heatwave in rigorous research and practical potential.

By uniting tradition, science, and social consciousness, Bahrain’s National Pavilion at La Biennale Architettura 2025 offers a compelling vision for the future of architecture in an era of rising heat. Rather than merely illustrating the consequences of climate change, Heatwave provides a spatial and systemic proposal for how design can intervene—quietly, precisely, and humanely—in one of the planet’s most pressing conditions.

Project Details:

Pavilion Coordinators: Batool Al Shaikh, Sara Ali

Curation, Design, and Research Lead: Andrea Faraguna

Exhibition Contributors: Abdulla Janahi, Alexander Puzrin, Eman Ali, Laila Al Shaikh, Maitham Al Mubarak, Mario Monotti, Mohammad Salim

Photo Credits: Ishaq Madan

Installation Execution: Bacciolo, Aernova, FCF Impianti