Architecture -
COP30 | AquaPraça: a special project at Biennale Architettura 2025
Currently anchored at the Venice Arsenale and open to the public. It will be inaugurated at COP30 in Belém, Brazil.
COP30 | AquaPraça
AquaPraça, a special project at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. curated by Carlo Ratti, is currently moored at the Arsenale of Venice and open to the public as a gathering space for global climate dialogue.
Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and COP30 Presidency, with the support of Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, requested CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon to design and develop AquaPraça, a floating cultural plaza which will serve as an integral part of the Italian Pavilion at COP30. Harnessing natural intelligence and responsive technologies to adapt to rising water levels, AquaPraça explores a new symbiosis between architecture and the environment.
AquaPraça - whose model has been on display at the Corderie dell’Arsenale since the opening of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – has been built in collaboration with CIHEAM Bari and the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate program, and with the support of BF International – Member of BF S.p.A. Group (as AquaPraça COP30 Naming Partner), Bloomberg Philanthropies, ENEL, and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
The platform, emerging from a global coalition committed to reimagining how architecture can serve communities facing climate disruption, was constructed in Northeastern Italy by leading advanced steel construction Company CIMOLAI.
Official inauguration on 5th September
La Biennale di Venezia will host the presentation of AquaPraça on September 5th, bringing together institutions, architects, scientists, and policymakers to explore new responses to rising seas and extreme weather. This private event will be opened by the President of La Biennale di Venezia, Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, with closing remarks by the Minister of Environment and Energy Security, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Edmondo Cirielli.
After its debut at the Biennale Architettura 2025, the platform will embark on a transatlantic journey to South America, where it will serve as an integral part of the Italian Pavilion at COP30 (Belém, Brazil, November 10 - 21, 2025), Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, addressing Italy's reflections on architecture and climate action to a global audience. After COP30, Italy will donate the AquaPraça installation to the Brazilian government, which will be transformed into a community space for promoting social engagement on climate.
