The Türkiye Pavilion has announced the project and curators for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy.

Commissioned by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV), the exhibition, titled Grounded, curated by Istanbul-based curator Ceren Erdem and Berlin-based architect Bilge Kalfa. 

The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale will take place from May 10 to November 23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice. Titled Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective, the exhibition will be curated by Carlo Ratti, an architect and engineer, Carlo Ratti is currently holding teaching positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and at the Politecnico di Milano. 

Ceren Erdem, Bilge Kalfa. Image courtesy of the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts

After evaluating 48 projects, the Selection Committee—which included Melike Altınışık, N. Müge Cengizkan, Prof. Dr. Zeynep Çelik, Oral Göktaş, and Dr. Sait Ali Köknar—selected Grounded, which was curated by Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa, from a shortlist of three finalists, each of whom was noteworthy for its distinctive design concepts and content.

Grounded examines soil as a living archive, an ecosystem, a form of natural intelligence, a supportive model, and a repository of ecological and cultural memory. 

The project was selected because of its creative research proposal, which seeks to unearth fresh optimism for the future, primarily from Türkiye, while integrating significant artistic perspectives in an interdisciplinary approach that enhances its story, advances global understanding, and stimulates critical thinking.

By highlighting the qualities of soil as a source of life, memory, and knowledge, Grounded will establish a connection between the past and the future. 

The Pavilion of Türkiye, Ghost Stories: Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture. Image © Rachele Maistrello

The exhibition's main goal is to remind us that this object, which is sometimes dismissed as inert and unimportant, actually holds important knowledge about historical civilizations, ecological systems, and the potential for coexisting peacefully with the natural world. It will do this through sensory experiences, scientific documentation, architecture, and artwork. 

Grounded will combine new research with traditional building techniques with the soil, as well as future visions that value life both above and below the soil equally.

With the help of 21 sponsors and the purchase of the permanent location at Sale d'Armi, Arsenale, at the initiative of IKSV, the Türkiye Pavilion has participated in the International Architecture Exhibition since 2014.

Ceren Erdem is an Istanbul-based curator who has worked on exhibitions and publications internationally. Some of her projects include Tack, Limb, Ilizarov, Depo, Istanbul (2023); All Else Is Far (2021) and Ad Infinitum (2019), Dirimart, Istanbul; Inverse Grayscale, Pasinger Fabrik, Munich (2016); Istanbul. Passion, Joy, Fury, Fondazione MAXXI, Rome (2015); Water Knows All My Secrets, Pratt Manhattan Gallery (2015) and Private Matters, apexart (2014), New York. 

Erdem has taken full-time roles at Dirimart, Istanbul, Tina Kim Gallery, New York, British Council Turkey, Istanbul, and Istanbul Biennial. 

The Pavilion of Türkiye, Ghost Stories: Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture. Image © Rachele Maistrello

Erdem received her Master's Degree in Modern Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies at Columbia University, New York, MFA in Visual Arts - Visual Communication Design at Sabancı University, Istanbul, and BSc in Industrial Product Design at Istanbul Technical University.

Bilge Kalfa is an architect who owns Bilge Kalfa Architecture and is an adjunct professor at Berlin International University. In addition to furniture design that emphasizes natural, cyclical materials, Kalfa's expertise encompasses all stages of architectural and interior design.

A graduate of Istanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture with a bachelor’s and master’s degree, she also co-owns The Keep, an artisanal rug company. In 2010, she received a national architectural prize for the group project İmkanmekan. She has completed numerous projects in Istanbul and Berlin, including the renowned Moda Sahnesi and Theater Hall at Boğaziçi University, with her former business partner. Her approach aims to honour the interconnectedness of life and the environment as much as possible.

At the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, the Türkiye Pavilion hosted the exhibition, titled Ghost Stories: Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture curated by Istanbul-based architecture studio SO?, co-founded by Sevince Bayrak and Oral Göktaş. The exhibition aimed "to question the taken-for-granted images and approaches to buildings and to reveal hopeful proposals for the future."

Top image: The Pavilion of Türkiye, Ghost Stories: Carrier Bag Theory of Architecture. Image © Rachele Maistrello. 

> via IKSV 

2025 Venice Architecture Biennale Türkiye Pavilion Venice Architecture Biennale