The Italian Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is presenting a groundbreaking exhibition that challenges traditional perceptions of the relationship between land and sea. Located in the historic Tese delle Vergini of the Arsenale and promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture, the pavilion showcases "Terrae Aquae. Italy and the Intelligence of the Sea," curated by Architect and Professor Guendalina Salimei.

The exhibition brings together an unprecedented collection of projects from diverse sectors of Italian society through an innovative open call process. The central objective focuses on reimagining the boundary between land and water as an integrated system encompassing architecture, infrastructure, and landscape design. This comprehensive approach directly responds to the Biennale's overarching theme while aiming to stimulate collective intelligence capable of transforming relationships between coastal communities and marine environments.

Curator Salimei's vision centers on four critical binomials that define Italy's identity: water and land, natural and artificial elements, infrastructure and landscape, and the relationship between cities and coastlines. The exhibition operates on the premise that these relationships fundamentally affect the country's environmental balance, cultural heritage, and economic sustainability. According to the curatorial statement, this delicate balance requires protection and redesign to achieve "essential adaptation to a future marked by new and pressing needs."

The curatorial perspective emphasizes that coastal areas, despite being crucial meeting points between ecosystems, cultures, activities, and religions, are often neglected, degraded, and misused. This degradation represents a significant loss of potential for communities that could otherwise thrive at these vital intersections. The depth of this land-sea relationship finds symbolic representation in Venice's historic ritual of the marriage to the sea, an annual ceremony where the Doge traditionally boards the Bucintoro at San Niccolò port at the Lido.

During this ancient ceremony, the Doge performs a sacred ritual involving the pouring of holy water and casting a blessed ring into the waves while pronouncing the words "Desponsamus te, mare nostrum, in signum veri perpetuique dominii" ("We marry you, our sea, as a sign of true and perpetual dominion"). This ritual serves as a powerful metaphor for the exhibition's central theme of recognizing the profound spiritual and practical connections between human communities and marine environments.

The exhibition represents a significant departure from traditional selection methods, transitioning from a preselection system to an open Call for Visions and Projects launched in January and concluded in March. This methodological shift reflects Curator Salimei's commitment to fostering more inclusive and representative dialogue where quality and relevance emerge through comparison and collective participation rather than predetermined institutional preferences.

The open call specifically targeted designers, scholars, and cultural practitioners to collect design proposals, theoretical frameworks, and multimedia presentations situated in coastal and port areas throughout Italy. Participants were invited to imagine the "form of the sea" by envisioning futuristic or utopian scenarios, projects, and aspirations for all border zones between terrestrial and marine environments. This comprehensive approach encouraged creative thinking about how these transitional spaces might evolve to meet contemporary challenges.

The exhibition welcomes contributions from both individual practitioners and collaborative groups, encompassing established professionals and emerging talents. This inclusive approach reflects the belief that meaningful dialogue about coastal heritage requires intergenerational, intercultural, and gender-inclusive exchange. Such dialogue addresses the fundamental design tension between progress and memory preservation, which remains essential for maintaining balance between Italy's inevitable past and possible future.

The response to the open call exceeded all expectations, with over 600 contributions collected by the Italian Pavilion. From the curator's perspective, this overwhelming response underscores the urgency of addressing Italy's neglect of coastal culture, the Mediterranean's influence on approximately one hundred port cities, and the reality that seas rank among climate change's most significant victims. The volume and quality of submissions demonstrate widespread recognition of these critical issues within Italy's design and academic communities.

The exhibition addresses numerous pressing contemporary challenges through the displayed proposals. These include rethinking divisions created by port areas, coastal roads, tourist developments, and illegal structures that disrupt continuity between cities and seas, as well as between natural ecosystems. Additionally, the projects explore reinterpreting transitional elements such as dams, piers, lighthouses, and artificial platforms that could better serve both human and environmental needs.

Further themes include rewriting waterfronts as urban regeneration processes capable of transforming coastal areas into livable, accessible, and sustainable communities. The exhibition also examines rethinking hospitality and port infrastructures to adapt to climate change impacts, repurposing abandoned industrial, port, and productive archaeological sites along coastlines, and redefining active protection strategies for environmental heritage while rediscovering submerged natural and archaeological treasures.

According to Curator Salimei's statement, the Mediterranean Sea level continues rising while water temperatures increase, endangering marine biodiversity. Storm events have become more frequent, accelerating erosion processes and threatening lives, fishing industries, trade networks, and tourism economies. These environmental changes force population movements as people search for more favorable living conditions, consequently modifying geopolitical relationships and resource distribution patterns.

The curatorial text emphasizes that various situations and strategies position water as the central element of new architectural policy, focusing attention on what constitute the "primary gates" of cities. This approach attempts to reclaim spaces and places once designated for public use but subsequently privatized or abandoned. The strategy represents a fundamental shift toward recognizing coastal areas as essential public infrastructure rather than privatizable commodities.

The exhibited projects are organized into three distinct sections within separate exhibition areas, each offering different perspectives on coastal relationships. The first section, "Census on the Present," showcases completed or ongoing projects throughout Italy involving conversion of abandoned land, including port redevelopment initiatives, waterfront regeneration programs, and coastal rewilding efforts. These projects demonstrate practical applications of the exhibition's theoretical framework.

The second section constitutes the most extensive collection of contributions, displayed in gallery format and presenting comprehensive data from practices across various territorial contexts throughout Italy. This section offers visitors the opportunity to explore diverse regional approaches to coastal challenges while identifying common patterns and innovative solutions that could be applied more broadly.

The third section, the "Research Laboratory," features scholars from various fields and disciplines presenting research outcomes through interactive installations. These installations enable visitors to explore topics related to sea intelligence through hands-on engagement with cutting-edge research methodologies and findings. The interactive format encourages deeper understanding of complex coastal and marine systems.

Throughout the exhibition duration, the Italian Pavilion hosts an extensive Public Program titled "The Sea of Intelligence. Dialogues," including seminars, conferences, workshops, and laboratory sessions. This programming extends the exhibition's impact beyond static displays by facilitating ongoing dialogue among practitioners, researchers, and the public. The events create opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaborative problem-solving around coastal challenges.

The exhibition's impact extends beyond the physical installation through a comprehensive catalog conceived as a navigational chart. This publication contains reflections from field experts, contributions selected through the Call for Visions and Projects, photographic essays, artistic interventions, research outcomes, and other cultural and project-related insights. The catalog serves as a lasting resource for continued engagement with the exhibition's themes.

The 19th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale opened on May 10, 2025, and continues until November 23, 2025, providing extended opportunities for international engagement with these critical coastal themes. Other national pavilions addressing water-related topics complement the Italian presentation, including the Uruguayan Pavilion highlighting water management as essential to architecture's future, and the Mexican Pavilion exploring chinampas, an ancient Mesoamerican floating agricultural system.

The Mexican Pavilion's installation specifically evokes Aldo Rossi's Teatro del Mondo floating structure from the Biennale's inaugural edition, creating historical connections between past and present approaches to water-based architecture. Additional related projects include the Pylon of Permanence installation presenting Water-Filled Glass (WFG), an innovative glazing system addressing glass's environmental impact in construction, and CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon's design for a floating plaza planned for transport from Venice to Brazil for COP30, demonstrating the global relevance of these coastal innovations.