The Foreign Ministry's Directorate of Cultural Affairs and the Argentine Chamber of Urban Developers (CEDU) announced the winning project to be exhibited in the Argentine Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, to be held from May 10 to November 23, 2025.
The project unanimously chosen as the winner is “Siestario”, presented by architects Juan Manuel Pachué and Marco Zampieron, both from Rosario, which transforms the Argentine Pavilion to offer it, according to its creators, “as a place for collective relaxation, a place to sit, rest and perhaps dream”, in the context of the Venice Biennale, where extensive tours are proposed with an abundant display of images and objects to be seen and recognized.
The selection of “Siestario” as the winning project is the result of an open competition organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and CEDU, after receiving and assessing 44 pre-project proposals, both individual and collective. The jury in charge of the selection was made up of architect Bárbara Berson -representing the Argentine Federation of Architects' Associations (FADEA)-, architect Daniela Bergaizen -representing the Argentine Agency for Investment and International Trade (AAICI)- and architects Gerardo Caballero, Marcelo Faiden and Mariano Clusellas -representing CEDU.
The jury highlighted as a merit that “the project uses the silobag, a storage technology of Argentine countryside, which will be used as a space for rest and contemplation in our country's Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. The silobag design generates an intelligent contrast that is enhanced inside the pavilion by its scale, material, and color.” In addition, the members of the jury valued that “the project maintains a synthesis and coherence between the conceptual idea and its materialization.”
The proposal dialogues with the Biennial's theme, chosen by the General Curator, Carlo Ratti: “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. In Spanish, the title Intelligens refers mainly to intelligence, although it produces multiple meanings. In this case, the work refers to local ingenuity, which, in the face of necessity, reconverts leftover silo bags into roofs for their houses, pools for their summers and shadows for their animals. The Argentine Pavilion is offered as a continuation of this ingenious chain as a great object of relaxation.
It should be added that for the first time the call for entries to the Venice Biennale has been made on the basis of a public-private partnership, with a view to achieving greater transparency and lowering State costs. On this occasion, CEDU is committed to assisting the winning project in the search for private sponsors who can contribute to cover the total expenses involved in the execution of the work. For its part, the Argentine Foreign Ministry will cover the basic maintenance costs of the Pavilion.
The Venice Biennale is an important global platform that offers architects from different parts of the world the opportunity to interact with an international audience, participate in different contemporary debates and influence future aspects of architecture. It is a showcase of the highest level for the dissemination of our cultural, artistic and architectural production.
More information about Argentina's participation in the Venice Biennale:
https://cancilleria.gob.ar/es/culturales/argentina-en-la-bienal-de-venecia
More information on the curatorial approach:
https://www.labiennale.org/en/news/biennale-architettura-2025-title-inte...
