The Architecture Biennale

The Venice Biennale Architettura, arguably the world’s most prestigious and influential contemporary architecture event, has long been shadowed by speculations, jealousy, and secrecy about the hidden mechanisms and economies that sustain this event.

In this book, leading architectural theorist ans sociologist Albena Yaneva takes readers behind the scenes of the Architecture Biennale to reveal how such exhibitions are imagined, negotiated, curated, and brought into being. Centred on the making of the nineteenth International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia in 2025, the book offers a rare and compelling account of the tactics, challenges and compromises that shape this global cultural event. Moving beyond media narratives and aesthetic readings, Yaneva uncovers the intricate web of technical skills, organisational effort, conceptual work and collaborations involved in its making. What emerges is a vivid portrait of the Biennale as a complex and contested enterprise, shaped by legal structures, logistical manoeuvres, financial constraints, political alliances, personal relationships, urban partnerships, and the active agency of scripts, technologies and exhibitors alike.

Albena Yaneva is Professor of Architectural Theory at the Politecnico di Torino and GSAPP Columbia University. Her work explores the current conditions of architectural practice and the political outreach of design. She is the recipient of the RIBA President’s Award for Outstanding University-based Research (2010) and the 2025 Mark Cousins Theory Award for unconventional contributions to architectural theory.