The Estonian Pavilion has revealed the theme and curators for its exhibition at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy. The exhibition, titled Let Me Warm You, is curated by architects Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, and Helena Männa.

The Pavilion examines whether current insulation-focused renovations are just compliance measures to meet European energy targets or if they can also serve as an opportunity to improve the spatial and social quality of mass housing districts.

The Estonian Pavilion will draw attention to this issue by covering the facade of a Venetian building with insulation panels, a method used in Estonia for mass housing.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Render, courtesy of the Estonian Pavilion

The palazzetto can be found at Riva dei Sette Martiri 1611, situated on the waterfront between Corso Garibaldi and the Giardini in the Castello district. 

A room on the ground floor of the same building, wrapped in plastic film, will serve as a venue for an exhibition demonstrating the impact of social dynamics among various stakeholders on spatial solutions.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Render, courtesy of the Estonian Pavilion

"With this project, we question whether insulation is just a bureaucratic checkbox for meeting EU targets or a real chance to tackle social and spatial challenges," said curators Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, and Helena Männa.

"It exposes the clash between bold global ambitions and the everyday realities of people navigating collective decisions," the curators added.

To tackle with climate change, one half of the world is adding thicker layers of insulation, while the other half is relying on more potent cooling systems. With Europe rapidly progressing toward its climate neutrality transition by 2050, Estonia has set an ambitious target of retrofitting all apartment buildings constructed before 2000 to meet at least energy efficiency class C.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Render, courtesy of the Estonian Pavilion

This extensive renovation initiative is part of a broader European movement aimed at modernizing outdated housing in response to the climate crisis. Insulation should not be viewed as a simple quick fix or 'bandage'; instead, it should be regarded as a significant enhancement of quality of life.

Because of the overwhelming cost and long-term effects involved in these renovations, the true difficulty lies in striking a balance between bold climate policies and the daily needs of residents in these spaces.

The installation will be mounted directly to the façade of the existing building and will utilize materials and design elements characteristic of renovations in Estonia. This striking contrast, set against Venice's elaborate architecture, constitutes a potent visual statement.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Photography © Joosep Kivimäe

In Estonia, the renovation of Soviet-era apartment blocks often takes place with minimal or no architectural involvement, perpetuating a troubling neglect of the character and potential of these spaces. The installation seeks to ignite a conversation among architects and residents regarding the cities and environments we wish to inhabit by placing a fiber cement-clad façade alongside Venice’s abundant historical context.

An exhibition on the ground floor of the palazzetto will explore the social forces affecting renovation decisions. In Estonia, where the majority of apartment buildings are privately owned, renovation decisions are frequently dictated by budget limitations, resulting in limited opportunities for spatial enhancements beyond insulation.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Photography © Joosep Kivimäe

The exhibition area (a currently used apartment) will be enveloped in plastic film, representing the unceasing drive for renovation and revealing how technical solutions frequently eclipse the deeper ties and actual needs people have with their homes.

A model of a Soviet-era housing block occupies the centre, highlighting human interactions through theatrical dialogues and exaggerated spatial outcomes to illustrate how various relationships and interactions influence space.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Photography © Joosep Kivimäe

The exhibition incites visitors to imagine the tension between energy goals driven by policy and the realities of those impacted by them, by illuminating the complexities involved in decisions about renovation and communal living. 

A catalogue accompanies the exhibition, depicting the tragicomedy of an apartment building in six scenes. Drawing on the narratives of actual individuals, it examines issues that span from the anxiety surrounding transformation to the neighborhood's rejuvenation.

Architect Carlo Ratti is curating the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with the theme Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective, and will focus on the built environment as a major contributor to atmospheric emissions, identifying architecture as one of the key factors in the degradation of our planet. 

With the climate crisis speeding up, architects have to provide solutions that are substantial rather than superficial, effective, and can be implemented quickly.

Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Render, courtesy of the Estonian Pavilion

In this sense, the Estonian exhibition responds to Ratti’s call for pavilions: "This year’s head theme offers good ground to discuss what happens to architecture when the Architect is excluded from the process. Renovation processes that are planned by residents themselves according to their best knowledge, provide a good example of how collective intelligence, or lack of it, affects our spatial environment," explained Johanna Jõekalda, advisor on architecture and design at the Ministry of Culture of Estonia, Commissioner of the Estonian Pavilion.

"The Estonian Pavilion gives the message that the architectural quality of the living environment should not be overlooked in renovation processes," Jõekalda added.

Estonian Pavilion, Let me warm you, 2025, mixed technique. Photography © Joosep Kivimäe

Visitors to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 will engage actively with the pavilion and the building through "Let Me Warm You" Estonia could become a European role model by reevaluating its renovation strategies: converting old housing not only for energy efficiency but also for a more sustainable and livable future.

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, Italy. 

Besides Estonia's contribution, other contributions at the Venice Architecture Biennale include the Romanian Pavilion's "Human Scale" exhibition, the Luxembourg Pavilion's Sonic Investigations exhibition, the Albanian Pavilion's "Building Architecture Culture" exhibition, the Turkey Pavilion's "Grounded" exhibition, the Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates's "Pressure Cooker" exhibition, the Finland Pavilion's "The Pavilion – Architecture of Stewardship" exhibition. 

Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. 

Exhibition facts

Pavilion of Estonia: Let me warm you
Address: Riva dei Sette Martiri 1611 (Castello neighborhood), Venice
Commissioner: Johanna Jõekalda
Curators: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa
Organiser: Ministry of Culture of Estonia
Co-organiser: Estonian Museum of Architecture
Exhibitors: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Märten Rattasepp, Kirill Havanski, Aadam Kaarma, Joosep Kivimäe
Production: Mari-Liis Vunder
Collaborators: Neeme Külm (Valge Kuup Studio), Margus Tammik, Robert Männa, Markus Puidak, Randel Pomber

The top image in the article: Author: Keiti Lige, Elina Liiva, Helena Männa, Let me warm you, 2025. Render, courtesy of the Estonian Pavilion.

> via Estonian Pavilion 

exhibition insulation pavilion Venice Architecture Biennale