venice biennale reveals renovated central pavilion

la biennale di venezia unveils reimagined central pavilion

La Biennale di Venezia reveals its fully refurbished Central Pavilion at the Giardini, completing a 16-month intervention just ahead of the 2026 Art Biennale. The project reworks one of the exhibition’s most historically layered buildings into a spatially coherent and technically integrated environment. The renewed pavilion will host In Minor Keys, the upcoming exhibition curated by Koyo Kouoh, opening to the public on May 9th, 2026.

The team approaches the Central Pavilion as a layered architectural organism. Through successive additions and modifications, accumulated over more than a century, are reorganized into a legible spatial system. The intervention clarifies circulation and hierarchy, positioning the Sala Chini as the primary distribution node from which exhibition spaces unfold.

A ring of public-facing functions, including a bookshop, cafeteria, educational spaces, and technical areas, is arranged around the core galleries. These service spaces are treated as distinct elements, allowing the exhibition rooms to operate as flexible environments. Conceived as white box galleries, they are fully liberated from visible technical systems, which are now embedded within walls and ceilings.

Central Pavilion refurbished with funding from the Ministry of Culture as part of the PNC under the PNRR | all images by Marco Cappelletti / Marco Cappelletti Studio, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia / MiC

from accumulated layers to spatial clarity

The project adopts a critical approach that selects, interprets, and reorganizes historical layers. Original elements of the Central Pavilion such as the windows designed by Carlo Scarpa are restored and reinstalled, while the Sala Brenno del Giudice is reconfigured according to its 1928 spatial logic. Openings toward the canal-facing terrace are also reinstated, reestablishing visual and physical connections with the Giardini. Rather than preserving all traces indiscriminately, the intervention filters the history of the Biennale’s building, removing incongruous additions while retaining its structural and spatial memory.

Two new external structures reinterpret the traditional Venetian altana. Positioned adjacent to the cafeteria and a multifunctional hall, these lightweight additions extend the pavilion outward without competing with its masonry mass. Constructed from carbonized laminated timber and X-LAM panels, they introduce a porous threshold between interior and landscape, framing new relationships with the surrounding gardens.

New skylights combine photovoltaic and diffused glass, providing even natural illumination while contributing to on-site energy production. Operable modules enable natural ventilation, while motorized shading systems allow complete blackout when required. All technical infrastructure is concealed within the building envelope, maintaining spatial clarity. The project targets LEED Gold certification, aligning with broader sustainability criteria, including energy efficiency, reduced emissions, and improved indoor environmental quality.

exhibition spaces

the central pavilion as spatial and curatorial nucleus

The Central Pavilion’s transformation reflects a longer historical shift within the Biennale itself. Originally constructed between 1894 and 1895 as the Palazzo Pro Arte, the building evolved throughout the 20th century into the Italian Pavilion, while continuing to host the exhibition’s main collective show.

A decisive change occurred in 1999 under Swiss curator Harald Szeemann, who introduced the model of a unified international exhibition curated as a singular project. Since then, the building has functioned as the primary site for the Biennale’s curatorial narrative, distinct from the national pavilions distributed across the Giardini. Today, spanning approximately 5,450 square meters within a 51,000-square-meter garden complex, the Central Pavilion consolidates its role as the spatial and conceptual anchor of the exhibition.

With construction completed in March 2026, installation works are now underway. The reopening of the Central Pavilion also marks a recalibration of how the Biennale stages its exhibitions, aligning a historically complex building with the spatial and technical demands of contemporary curatorial practice.

mezzanine

view of the Sala Chini

enfilade of exhibition rooms

entrance hall

Sala Brenno with Carlo Scarpa’s window

garden seen from the multipurpose hall

garden view from the exhibition spaces

bookshop

cafeteria loggia

Cafeteria loggia from the Rio dei Giardini

elevation facing the Rio dei Giardini

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mezzanine

portico facing the garden

cafeteria counter

interior of the cafeteria

cafeteria

stairs leading to the mezzanine

view of the external portico facing the garden

project info:

name: Requalification of the Central Pavilion

architects: BUROMILAN – Milan Ingegneria S.p.A. (lead), Labics S.r.l., arch. Fabio Fumagalli

engineering and systems, ia2 Studio Associato (MEP and fire safety)

location: Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy | @labiennale

geology: Francesco Aucone

gross floor area: 5,450 square meters

project management: Arianna Laurenzi (Head of Special Projects, La Biennale di Venezia), RUP (responsabile unico del procedimento), Cristiano Frizzele

construction supervision: Massimiliano Milan

contractor: Setten Genesio S.p.A.