The previous Lisbon Architecture Triennale in 2016 was curated by André Tavares and the late Diogo Seixas Lopes.
Biennale time means a rush of announcements, big and small, as other, smaller, events try and get into the spotlight and exploit the unmissable opportunity of having the world’s design media crammed into one place. Founded in 2007, the Triennale makes the most of Portugal’s ability to punch well above its weight on the international architecture scene. And so for many scribes, Venice kicked off in a small room up the steep, winding staircases of the Fondamenta Zattere ai Saloni in Dorsoduro.
The Triennale’s curatorial team, headed up by Éric Lapierre, announced the theme for the fifth exhibition, ‘The Poetics of Reason.’ Drawing on Aristotle’s pioneering piece of literary theory – that of all literature being assembled from a kit of elements that drive narrative forward – the Triennale examines how this might be applied to architecture. Lapierre described Lisbon as a ‘great urban operating theatre’, a ‘laboratory for the dissection of architecture’s component parts’.
There will five central shows, including ‘The Economy of Means’, ‘Permaculture for Architects,’ ‘Inner Space’, ‘What is Ornament?’ and ‘Natural Beauty,’ and the curatorial team has all bases covered, from exploring virtual worlds to looking at ways in which architecture could re-shape the agriculture industry.
‘We’ve built more since the beginning of the 20th century than since the beginning of humanity,’ Lapierre notes. Lisbon 2019 will hopefully open up new debates about the ever-changing perception of architecture. Above all, can the historic values of architecture be diverted and directed into ever more socially and environmentally conscious ways?
Those demanding an annual architecture fix received a new date for their diaries, and the event ended with an improvised performance by Thurston Moore, smashing merry hell out of his Fender on the palazzo’s rooftop as he blended the sound of 12 distorted strings with the bells of Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute.
See all the latest news and stories from Venice Architecture Biennale here
The curatorial team for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2019.
The Lisbon Architecture Triennale in 2013 featured a play titled the SuperPowers of Ten, the play was created by Spanish architect Andres Jaque and his team, The Office of Political Innovation.
INFORMATION
The Lisbon Architecture Triennale will run 3 October - 2 December 2019. For more information visit the website
-
Willy Chavarria: ‘We’re still so stuck in fashion‘s old guard’As part of the August 2025 ‘Made in America’ issue of Wallpaper*, we invited three creative powerhouses to comment on the state of the States. Here, award-winning American fashion designer Willy Chavarria speaks on creative resilience, uniting with activist groups, and shaking up fashion’s old guard
-
Six Indian artists reframe the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local trainAn exhibition by Method (India) at Galerie Melike Bilir in Hamburg explores a gendered space
-
Frank Lloyd Wright’s The Fountainhead – a shining example of Usonian design – is now on the marketThis quintessential Wright home – built in a vibrant mid-century neighbourhood – was named after a novel inspired by the architect
-
A guide to Renzo Piano’s magic touch for balancing scale and craft in architectureProlific and innovative, Renzo Piano has earned a place among the 20th century's most important architects; we delve into his life and career in this ultimate guide to his work
-
Porsche and the Norman Foster Foundation rethink the future of mobilityA futuristic Venice transport hub, created with the Norman Foster Foundation for Porsche’s The Art of Dreams programme, is a star of the city’s Architecture Biennale
-
Want to be a Venice pavilion commissioner? Bring ideas – and your RolodexThe impressive showings of the USA's Venice pavilion in the Giardini belie the ambitious fundraising efforts that underpin them. Past and present curators tell us how it works
-
A mesmerising edition of The Dalmore Luminary Series is unveiled in VeniceThe Dalmore Luminary Series sculpture No.3 by Ben Dobbin of Foster + Partners, co-curated by V&A Dundee, launches in Venice during the 2025 Architecture Biennale
-
A love letter to the panache and beauty of diagrams: OMA/AMO at the Prada Foundation in Venice‘Diagrams’, an exhibition by AMO/OMA, celebrates the powerful visual communication of data as a valuable tool of investigation; we toured the newly opened show in Venice’s Prada Foundation
-
How was Carlo Ratti’s ‘Intelligens’? Wallpaper* editors discuss the 19th Venice BiennaleHaving visited ‘Intelligens’, the 19th Venice Biennale's main show by curator Carlo Ratti, the Wallpaper* editors discuss what they saw at the world's biggest global architecture festival
-
The 2025 British Pavilion in Venice offered up a Geology of Britannic RepairThe 2025 British Pavilion in Venice is curated by an Anglo-Kenyan team of architects and designers; titled 'GBR: Geology of Britannic Repair', it explores the landscape of colonialism, its past, present and futures
-
A Venice sneak peek into the new Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean NouvelA new home for Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain by Jean Nouvel will open later this year in Paris; in the meantime, the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 offered the perfect platform for a sneak preview of what's to come
