The details of the Grounded, curated by Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa, were announced at a press conference held for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, coordinated by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV). The project featured at the Turkey Pavilion, invites visitors to establish a deeper connection with the earth, offering an interactive exhibition where the earth can be felt and experienced.
With this exhibition, Erdem and Kalfa aim to imagine sustainable, resilient, and environmentally harmonious ways of building and living, while also listening to what the earth can teach. They view the earth as a shared ground for future societies.
The curators described the project by saying, “With Grounded, we invite visitors to perceive the earth not as a separate entity, but as an inseparable part of the living fabric that surrounds us. The earth is not merely a surface beneath us or a resource to be extracted; it is, in fact, a dense, intelligent world to which we belong. The exhibition encourages us to rethink our place within this dynamic exchange through material research, artistic documentation, and scientific observations. It calls on us to see the structures we erode and the possibilities we often overlook. In this way, it proposes ways of living and building that do not impose themselves, but rather listen to and interact with the environment.”
The exhibition, opening on May 10, will feature individual contributions from Hüseyin Aksoy, Michael Akstaller, E. Füsun Alioğlu & Senem Akçay, Ali Mahmut Demirel, Sinem Dişli, Yelda Gin, Ali Miharbi, Özgül Öztürk, Serkan Taycan, and Orkan Telhan. Additionally, the following teams will also contribute to the exhibition: Bire-Pan, Common Action Walls, Herkes İçin Mimarlık & Poçolana Works, Mono Earth, Ozruh, Rec II, ReYard House, Solidified, and Yalın Mimarlık.
Görgün Taner, the General Manager of IKSV, shared the following about the exhibition at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale:
“As the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, we greatly value the representation of Turkey’s cultural, artistic, and intellectual production abroad. Through our activities in Istanbul and international events, we work to increase opportunities for international interaction for creative professionals. This year, at Venice, under the leadership of our curators, we are presenting an exhibition that brings together projects that address traditional models with new technologies, look at contemporary issues from new perspectives, and offer hope for the future. We are happy to have contributed to securing a permanent space for our country at Arsenale in 2014 with the help of 21 supporters, and we are proud to ensure that Turkey can participate in the international exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale. We would like to thank all the institutions, organizations, and individuals who made this exhibition possible.”
The Turkey Pavilion at the Arsenale, one of the main venues of the Venice Architecture Biennale, is organized under the coordination of IKSV, with contributions from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey. Since 2014, the Turkey Pavilion exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale have been made possible through the co-sponsorship of Schüco Turkeyand VitrA. This year, the contributing organizations for the Turkey Pavilion include Fibrobeton Yapı Elemanları and STONELINE, with Turkish Airlines as the airline partner, and FÖRNİ and SAHA Association providing production support.
Grounded highlights the earth, a resource that is vital to understanding civilizations, ecosystems, and the essence of sustainable living. Despite its dynamic importance, it is often overlooked. The exhibition, featuring soil samples from Turkey, reveals the various qualities of the earth through sensory experiences, scientific research, and artistic interpretations.
Architecture is often inclined to suppress the characteristics of the earth in the pursuit of creating clean and controllable environments. In contrast, Grounded places the earth at the center of the pavilion, presenting it as a living entity with intelligence and agency. Visitors interact with the earth’s texture, scent, and sound; experiencing it both as an ecological system and as a living archive of nature and human history.
Grounded also reflects on the impacts of human activities, such as construction, while exploring Turkey’s rich heritage, archaeological sites, and sustainable building practices. The exhibition imagines architectural approaches that blend local techniques with contemporary innovations, fostering respect for nature and culture, and encouraging more harmonious ways of living with the environment.
Details about the project can be accessed on the website: turkiyepavyonu25.iksv.org.
Parallel to the exhibition, a book edited by Melis Cankara has been prepared, with contributions from Aytek Soner Alpan, Sevince Bayrak, Ömür Harmanşah, Enise Burcu Karaçizmeli, Burcu Serdar Köknar, Aslı Odman, Bülent Tanju, and Evren Uzer. The publication aims to deepen the themes discussed in the works with different perspectives, including the curators’ texts and explanations of the participants’ works. Reflecting the multi-layered and living nature of the earth theme, the book will be published in two volumes, in both Turkish and English.
The title and theme of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale were announced as Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. by Pietrangelo Buttafuoco, President of La Biennale di Venezia, and Carlo Ratti, curator of the exhibition. The biennale will take place at Giardini, Arsenale, and various locations in Venice from May 10 to November 23, 2025 (preview: May 8–9).
