Biennale College Architettura 2026-2027

Biennale College Architettura is a strategic programme for training and supporting young emerging practitioners from all around the world. Biennale College is already operating in other Departments of La Biennale di Venezia, including Art, Cinema, Dance, Music, Theatre and the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts.

The goal of Biennale College is to foster new talents through training programmes in close collaboration with international mentors, in order to develop new ambitious projects.
Biennale College is a project of crucial importance for the Architecture Department of La Biennale di Venezia: it will consist of a number of permanent activities “before and beyond the Exhibition”, with a strong commitment to developing new artistic creations.

The goal is to supplement the International Architecture Exhibition with an advanced training workshop for the conception, development and production projects by emerging practitioners under the age of 30.

Biennale College will support up to 4 projects.
They will all be exhibited, out of competition, in the context of the 20^th International Architecture Exhibition.

For this International Call, Biennale College Architettura is looking for projects developed by young emerging practitioners under the age of 30 that can be produced with a budget of up to € 25,000.00 and should be realized by April 2^nd, 2027 to be presented, out of competition, at the 20^th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

The selection of the 12 projects for the September workshop will be communicated to the applicants by 20 July 2026.

The International Call will be open, starting from 19 May 2026, for five weeks until 24 June 2026.

The call is devoted to young emerging practitioners under the age of 30 by the application deadline, from all over the world, undergraduate students or graduate students, young professionals who have graduated with an undergraduate or graduate degree, from as wide a range of built environment disciplinary backgrounds as possible, following the overall ambition of the 20^th International Architecture Exhibition.

Biennale College Architettura will select up to 12 projects and selected participants will be invited to participate in a 10-day workshop that will take place in Venice from 22 September to 1 October 2026.

The September workshop in Venice will be devoted to develop the proposed projects, and will include presentations organized at La Biennale’s historical headquarters, Ca’ Giustinian.

The workshop will be run by the Artistic Directors of the Architecture Department and a group of curators and architects who will act as tutors and mentors for the group. The workshop will alternate between group and individual sessions as well as dedicated meetings with visiting professors and cultural producers.

At the conclusion of the first workshop each participant will present their projects to the Artistic Directors of the Architecture Department of La Biennale di Venezia.

After the workshop, the participants will have three additional weeks to work on their projects and deliver final project draft with updated budget and production schedule. Upon receipt of these materials, the Artistic Directors of the Architecture Department of La Biennale di Venezia will select up to 4 projects which will receive a grant of up to € 25,000 euro for their production.

The Directors’ selection will be notified by 9 November 2026.

The selected participants will participate in a 5-day online workshop from 23-27 November 2026, to finalize the project and develop the budget. Following this workshop, each participant will sign an agreement with La Biennale di Venezia, which will define the obligations of the participants and terms to access the maximum € 25,000 grant.

Participants will be expected to deliver regular updates on the advancement of the project in order to receive payments of the grant.

All projects will have to be completed and installed by the 30 April 2027 in Venice.

How to apply
The application consists of a number of written and visual materials, which you will need to submit digitally (see list below).
Please supply all requested materials. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

The call is devoted to young emerging practitioners under the age of 30 by the application deadline, from as wide a range of built environment disciplinary backgrounds as possible, following the overall ambition of the 20^th International Architecture Exhibition. Preference will be given to applicants that pursue transdisciplinary approaches with the objective of addressing architecture’s most pressing challenges.

You will have to submit all the following materials in English by 24 June 2026, by 11:59 pm CEST.

Documentation required for applications (to be presented in English):

a. Supporting documentation to verify your eligibility to apply (PDF format, 300 KB MAX).
b. Written statement describing the specific project: both the proposed work and its inspiration and context (1 page, max 350 words or 1,800 characters).
c. Drawings, photographs, sketches, videos, renderings of proposed work (no more than 5 items).
d. A production budget up to a maximum of € 25,000 for fabrication and any extraordinary maintenance or staffing costs
e. An additional budget for shipment, technical equipment rental and installation, lighting and installation costs
f. Curriculum Vitae (2 pages, max 700 words or 3,600 characters).
g. Short video presentation, in English, by the applicant (max 3 minutes).
h. Contact information: email address, phone number, and mailing address.
i. Rights Disclosure with regards to full ownership of rights to the submitted project.
j. Confirmation that the project has not already been and will not supported with other financing for development or production.
k. List of grants for which the project has been submitted, if any.

The selected participants will be involved in a series of online and offline activities starting from September up to the 20^th International Architecture Exhibition.

19^th May 2026  – Call for Applications “Biennale College Architettura”
24^th June 2026 (11:59 pm CEST) – Deadline for applications “Biennale College Architecture”
20^th July 2026  – Notification of the results to the selected participants
15^th September 2026  – Announcement of the 12 selected projects
22^nd September – 1^st October 2026 (travel dates: Monday September 21^st – Thursday October 1^st) in Venice – Workshop for the participating practitioners of the 12 selected projects
22^nd October 2026 – Deadline for participating practitioners  of the 12 selected projects to deliver final project, budget and schedules
By 9^th November 2026 – Notification of the results for grant selection – up to 4 projects
23^rd - 27^th November 2026 – 5 day-online workshop dedicated to pre-production
2^nd April 2027 – Delivery date in Venice

La Biennale di Venezia reserves the right, in any case, to modify, cancel or interrupt the initiative described above, in that case the announcement and/or the selection do not constitute a binding contract for the same, nor do they entail the right to the reimbursement of any expense other than those specified above.