Architect and urbanist Paola Viganò has been selected by Pro Helvetia to curate the Swiss Pavilion at the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Chosen following a unanimous recommendation from the selection jury, Viganò's proposal explores water as a territorial, ecological, and political condition, taking Switzerland's role as "Europe's water tower" as its conceptual point of departure. Developed with StudioPaolaViganò and an interdisciplinary team, the project examines water not only as a resource but also as a subject, a legal entity, and a force that shapes landscapes, infrastructures, and the built environment.
Conceived as a continuous spatial and thematic journey, the installation places the performative work "I am water" at its center while bringing together design research, artistic interventions, and perspectives from political ecology, science, technology, and law. Retreating glaciers, dams at risk, hidden rivers, buried streams, overexploited anoxic lakes, and urban rainwater become lenses through which the project investigates the relationships between environmental systems and spatial practice. The proposal frames water as an active medium that connects territories, disciplines, and scales, inviting reflection on forms of coexistence and collective responsibility.
Viganò's proposal emerged through a multi-stage competition organized by Pro Helvetia, in which an international panel first identified ten architectural candidates and teams before inviting them to develop concepts for the Swiss Pavilion. The specialist jury, composed of Ariane Widmer Pham, Dagnija Smilga, John Palmesino, Mariam Issoufou, and João Ferreira Nunes, unanimously recommended the project. The curatorial team includes Paola Viganò with StudioPaolaViganò; Maria Medusheskaya, Etienne Schillers, and Alessio Tamiazzo alongside Paolo Benettin (UNIL), Loan Laurent (HRC-EPFL), artist Marie Velardi, and collaborators from ESTIA.
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The selection builds on the Swiss Pavilion's recent engagement with architectural history and critical spatial narratives. For the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, the exhibition "The final form is determined by the architect on site," curated by Elena Chiavi, Kathrin Füglister, Amy Perkins, Axelle Stiefel, and Myriam Uzor, revisited the legacy of architect Lisbeth Sachs through the reconstruction of her 1958 SAFFA exhibition hall. The 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia will take place from May 8 to November 21, 2027, curated by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu under the theme Do Architecture — The Possibility of Coexistence in the Face of Real Reality. Switzerland has maintained a national pavilion in the Giardini since participating in the Architecture Biennale in 1991, with Pro Helvetia overseeing its exhibitions since 2012.
