kingdom of bahrain’s heatwave pavilion wins venice architecture biennale 2025 golden lion

heatwave was praised by this year's international jury for its presentation of ‘viable proposals for extreme heat conditions,’ combining tradition with innovative design.

ravail khan May 10, 2025 4 min

kingdom of bahrain pavilion awarded for national participation

The Kingdom of Bahrain has been awarded Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale for its pavilion, Heatwave. Curated by Andrea Faraguna and commissioned by Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, the exhibition offers a grounded and urgent response to one of today’s most pressing climate challenges: extreme heat. Celebrated for its environmental intelligence and social consideration, Heatwave was praised by this year’s International Jury, comprised of Hans Ulrich Obrist (President, Switzerland), Paola Antonelli (Italy), and Mpho Matsipa (South Africa), for its presentation of ‘viable proposals for extreme heat conditions,’ combining tradition with innovative design.

With works by Wafa Al Ghatam, Eman Ali, Alexander Puzrin, and Mario Monotti, Heatwave stands out for its thoughtful integration of traditional Bahraini cooling systems, including wind towers and shaded courtyards, with contemporary material research. The pavilion functions as a full-scale, inhabitable prototype, defined by a raised platform, suspended ceiling, and central supporting column that together depict how passive cooling techniques can be reimagined to address global warming in real-time conditions. Its spatial framework doubles as a climatic device, shaping microclimates through materiality and form.

heatwave addresses extreme heat in the nation

Designed to be modular and scalable, the Kingdom of Bahrain Pavilion imagines how such systems could be implemented across diverse contexts, particularly in public outdoor spaces where exposure to extreme heat is highest. As the designers explain, ‘Architecture must address the dual challenges of environmental resilience and sustainability. The ingenious solution can be deployed in public spaces and in locations where people must live and work outdoors in conditions of extreme heat. The pavilion uses traditional methods of passive cooling typical of the region and reminiscence of wind towers and shaded courtyards.’

Heatwave also centers the lived experiences of vulnerable outdoor workers, especially those in construction, who work in tough and often extreme climatic conditions, and reframes thermal comfort as a question of equity and public well-being. In doing so, the project introduces the concept of the ‘thermal commons’ — a shared environmental resource — and advocates for architectural approaches that are porous, adaptive, and communal. Scenarios explored in the pavilion include schoolyards, urban intersections, and other high-heat environments, positioning Heatwave as both a practical proposal and a provocation for rethinking the civic role of architecture in the face of climate emergency.

additional accolades at the venice architecture biennale 2025

The International Jury also awarded Special Mentions to the Holy See and Great Britain. The Holy See’s Opera aperta, curated by Marina Otero Verzier and Giovanna Zabotti, features work by Tatiana Bilbao Estudio and MAIO Architects, and was recognized for its thoughtful engagement with spatial openness and spiritual reflection. The British Pavilion’s Geology of Britannic Repair, curated by Owen Hopkins, Kathryn Yusoff, Kabage Karanja, and Stella Mutegi, brings together collaborators such as cave_bureau and the Palestine Regeneration Team (PART), and was commended for its critical take on colonial and ecological legacies embedded in the British landscape.