This panel discussion takes audiences behind the scenes to uncover how the Biennale comes together—and why it continues to define architectural debate worldwide. The world’s most influential platform for architectural discourse, it reflects both the institution’s cultural and political vision and the intellectual responses of its artistic directors, shaping how architecture is curated and debated on a global stage.
Every two years, it sets the global agenda for architecture, showcasing groundbreaking ideas, experimental practices, and national pavilions that reflect urgent questions about how we live and build today. A dynamic cultural undertaking, the Biennale also involves developing curatorial concepts, national presentations, participant selection and designing experiences that engage both experts and the public.
Participating Experts
Alejandro Aravena
Alejandro Aravena graduated as an architect at Universidad Católica de Chile in 1992. The works of Aravena and ELEMENTAL have been recognised—among other awards—with Silver Lion at Venice Biennale (2008) and the Gothenburg Award for Sustainability (2017). In 2016, Aravena was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize and was the curator of the XV Venice Biennale. Since 2020, he is president of Pritzker Prize Jury.
Manuela Lucá-Dazio
Manuela Lucà-Dazio is the executive director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, and advisor to international cultural institutions and projects. She holds a degree in architecture from the University of Naples, Italy and a PHD in History of Architecture from the University of Roma-Chieti, Italy.