Campus & Beyond At the Biennale, Architects Counter Climate Change with Creativity Stories You May Like In NYC’s Central Park, AAP Alum Leads a Stunning Transformation Trailblazing Architect Kimberly Dowdell ’06 Aims to Inspire Others From Nature’s Structures, Prof Weaves Architectural Creations In Venice, Big Red faculty, staff, and students take up an existential challenge: ‘the built environment must adapt to an altered planet’ Editor’s note: This story, which focuses on Cornellians’ contributions to each project, was adapted from a feature by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. More detailed descriptions of each work, including complete information on contributors, can be found there. By Cornellians staff The 2025 edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale—an international celebration and exploration of the field, held in alternating years—opened in mid-May, with a focus on design that addresses the challenges of climate change. Among the creativity on display through late November is work by more than a dozen Cornell alumni, faculty, and students. Additionally, Cornellians served as curators of three national pavilions: those of Spain, Qatar, and Pakistan. “The message of this Biennale is urgent: the built environment must adapt to an altered planet,” says the exhibition’s curator, Italian architect and educator Carlo Ratti. “Architecture, then, is no longer just about form—it is about survival. To meet this challenge, it must adapt itself, drawing on every form of intelligence we possess: natural, artificial, and collective.” Here's a visual sampling of Cornellians’ work on display in Venice: Acapulco: Selective Memories Jose Castillo, professor and chair of architecture Ricardo de la Concha The project envisions how Acapulco—formerly a hub for trade and jet-set travel—can be sustainably revitalized, in the face of its current social, environmental, and economic challenges. Doxiadis’s Informational Modernism Farzin Lotfi-Jam, assistant professor of architecture provided The exhibit examines the intertwining of cities, people, and information systems, with a focus on a pioneering computing center in Greece. From Waste to Resource: Robotic 3D Printing for Recycling Plastics David Costanza, assistant professor of architecture provided The project challenges the perception of plastics as disposable—recasting them as durable, affordable, and sustainable materials through advanced recycling techniques and more. AquaPraça AAP Dean J. Meejin Yoon, BArch ’95 & Eric Höweler, BArch ’94, MArch ’96 Agnese Bandini AquaPraça comprises the design of a 4,000-square-foot-floating cultural plaza, aimed to serve as a platform for global climate dialogue. Laguna Wonne Ickx, visiting lecturer in architecture provided The exhibit showcases the transformation of Laguna, a former textile factory in Mexico City that's in the process of being converted into usable space via sustainable principles. Necto Florian Idenburg, professor of the practice in architecture Iwan Baan Necto comprises knitted natural fibers embedded with luminous threads; they're lightweight, portable, and easily assembled—leaving no trace after they're exhibited. Stories You May Like In NYC’s Central Park, AAP Alum Leads a Stunning Transformation Trailblazing Architect Kimberly Dowdell ’06 Aims to Inspire Others BeLieving in the Mountains Mary Anne Ocampo, MArch ’04 IUAV Using film, drones, data, interviews, and other methods, the project investigates the intersection of climate change, depopulation, and cultural heritage in a community in the Dolomite mountains. In the Fold of Shadows: Prosthetic Dialogues Laura-India Garinois ’16, BArch ’17 provided The project shares how residents of Andalusia have come together to combat record heat waves, through such methods as adding fountains and shade. The Porch: Urban, Aquatic, and Crystaline Michael Manfredi, MArch ’80 provided The installation is part of an exhibition in the U.S. Pavilion—PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity—exploring the nature of the porch as a quintessentially American space. Spanish Pavilion Curated by Manuel Bouzas, design teaching fellow in architecture Luis Díaz Díaz The pavilion’s exhibits include Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium, which considers the decarbonization of architecture in Spain through adaptations in materials, energy, labor, residues, and emissions. Qatar National Pavilion Curated by Sean Anderson ’96, BArch ’96, associate professor of architecture Giuseppe Miotto / Marco Cappelletti Studio Beyti Beytak. My Home is Your Home. La mia casa è la tua casa explores how hospitality is embodied in the architecture and urban landscapes of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Pakistan Pavilion Curated by Arsalan Rafique, MArch ’14 Omer Ehtisham (Fr)Agile Systems highlights Pakistan's vulnerability to climate-related disasters; it also underscores the inequity of the global climate crisis, with many nations suffering disproportionately. In addition to the works pictured above, two non-AAP alumni are participating in the Biennale: Computer science professor Jon Kleinberg ’93 contributed to Archive and the City, which explores unexpected parallels between archival practices and urban planning. Anthropology alum Austin Lord, PhD ’22, contributed to Fragile Frontlines: A Forensic Atlas of Loss & Damage, which investigates climate-driven crises in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. (Top: Photo of Necto by Iwan Baan.) Published June 1, 2025 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Campus & Beyond Digital Docs: How AI is Helping Train Medical Students Alumni After Three Decades, Big Red Men’s Ice Hockey Passes the Torch Alumni A Decaf Soy Latte, with a Shot of Entrepreneurship