There’s an indecipherable network diagram across a long wall in the Giardini that tries to explain the organisation of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. It charts the connections between the thousands of people involved. Caught in the middle of its web is chief curator Carlo Ratti, and his quote: “We want the projects to develop new knowledge, not just to showcase existing one.”

Ratti has been described as a polymath, preferable to claiming the title yourself. For the Biennale, he has drawn on his roles as architect, engineer, MIT professor and author to challenge the idea of the lone genius, to propose “a more inclusive authorship model, inspired by scientific research.” His title, splashed all over the city on vaporetti and posters, is the much-memed ‘Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.’ Getting through the next few days will take all three. It’s impossible to cover everything, but here’s what stood out.

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