Biennale Architettura 2025. JAPAN PAVILION

Imagine a place where the boundary between humans and the environment dissolves, where nature and art coexist, and artificial intelligence is not an enemy but a conversation partner. This is not science fiction: it is the Japan Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – Venice Biennale 2025.

With his exhibition ‘In-Between’, architect Jun Aoki invites us to reflect on how our relationship with the world is changing, especially at a time when the climate crisis and the evolution of AI are raising urgent questions. The idea is to move beyond the traditional notion of human centrality, drawing inspiration from an ancient Japanese concept: the concept of ‘ma’, which means ‘in between’.

Between Human and Non-Human: Japan at the Venice Biennale

In-Between is a journey between the human and the non-human, between the natural and the artificial.

Two teams of artists and architects, Taichi Sunayama + Toshikatsu Kiuchi and Asako Fujikura + Takahiro Ohmura, have created an installation that occupies two levels of the Pavilion, connected by a striking square ‘hole’ in the centre. This hole, visible from the upper floor, represents fragmented knowledge and unites the space like a beating heart.

It is not just about architecture, because the elements themselves become protagonists.

Columns, walls, terraces and even a tree come to life in an audiovisual installation, interacting with each other and with five human beings in an imaginary dialogue. It is not AI that gives voice to these things, but a creative script that simulates a conversation between elements and people, suggesting a future where AI is part of the dialogue, not an antagonist.

An imagined AI

Fujikura and Ohmura propose a game of reflections: in the upper gallery, a synchronised video transforms the floor into a mirror of ideas.
The result? A suspended monitor speaks for the columns, while projections recount a convivial moment between five people and a landscape that reacts to their movements.
Technology thus becomes an integral part of the human experience.

The invisible becomes visible

There is a space dominated by a reflective elliptical disc that captures and materialises the beams of light coming from the upper gallery, creating a hypnotic effect. Around it, a sloping ring-shaped path, made of 3D-printed ceramic tracks filled with earth, houses plants that are tended every day: a reminder of humanity’s responsibility towards nature.

A possible future

In-Between is not just an exhibition, it is an idea: that of a hybrid subjectivity that transcends the dualism between human and artificial. It is as if Japanese culture, with its deep respect for nature, merges with contemporary thinking about the future of AI.

No longer a threat, but an opportunity to coexist in harmony.

The Pavilion, recently renovated thanks to the Ishibashi Foundation under the guidance of architect Toyo Ito, has an ecological and inclusive spirit, thanks also to the collaboration with the brand kolor for the actors’ costumes and staff uniforms.

The Japan Pavilion awaits you from 10 May to 23 November 2025 at the Venice Biennale. Get ready to immerse yourself in a unique experience, where the future takes shape through imaginary dialogues and architecture that tells stories.

Are you ready to step inside and listen to what the elements have to say?