20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia Japan Pavilion Exhibition 'MONSOON COMMONALITY'

The Japan Foundation (JF) will host the Japan Pavilion exhibition at the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, to be held in Venice, Italy from May 8 to November 21, 2027. The exhibition details have now been finalized and are announced as follows.

Details

Overview of the 20th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition Japan Pavilion

Title: MONSOON COMMONALITY

Commissioner/Host: The Japan Foundation

Curator: Chie Konno (Architect / CEO of t e c o)

Exhibiting Artists: Huang Sheng-Yuan (Architect / Principal of Fieldoffice Architects)

Shui Yanfei (Architect / Principal of Yanfei Architects)

Toshimichi Nishizawa (Architect / Principal of NISHIZAWAARCHITECTS, Associate Professor at Shiga Prefectural University)

Environmental Editor: Kentarou Suganuma (Environmental Editor, Architect / Arup, Visiting Associate Professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology)

Official Website: https://venezia-biennale-japan.jpf.go.jp/ (All names without honorifics)

© t e c o

General Overview of the 20th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition

Dates: Saturday, May 8 – Sunday, November 21, 2027

Venues: Giardini, Arsenale, and various locations throughout Venice

General Directors: Wang Shu, Lu Wenyu

Overall Theme: Do Architecture — For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality

Official Website: https://www.labiennale.org/en

Chie Konno

Architect, Representative of t e c o

Born in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1981. Graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2005; Swiss Federal Institute of Technology scholarship holder (2005–06); completed doctoral program at Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate School in 2011, earning a Ph.D. in Engineering. Founded KONNO in 2011, then established t e c o in 2015. Served as Visiting Professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology (2021–2026). Guest faculty at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in 2024.

Engages in architectural design for housing, welfare facilities, and public buildings, as well as regional research, urban planning, and art installations, aiming to create environments that transcend systems and structures.

Major works include 'Kasuga-dai Center Center' (recipient of the 2023 Japan Institute of Architects Award (Work), among others), and the 2016 Venice Biennale Japan Pavilion exhibition 'en (en): art of nexus' (as t e c o, received Special Mention). Also 'Koyou Loggia House' (2013 Tokyo Architects Association Residential Architecture Gold Prize, among others).

Major publications include 'Loggia: Outdoor-In Between Spaces of the World, Where Leisure and Gathering Are Enjoyed' (2025, Gakugei Publishing).

Official website: https://teco.studio/

Curator’s Statement

Thinking about environments where all people are inclusively accepted.

We are now in the midst of a quiet transformation—liberated from the logic of modernity, moving from cities to peripheries, from mechanical control to natural intelligence, from Western logic to the Eastern logic in which we live. This transformation is an opportunity to redefine living, and the key lies in experiences such as being present in a place, observing closely, and listening attentively. When we reconsider the wisdom rooted in local climates, we may recognize that humans are not only part of society but also part of nature.

We live in monsoon Asia.

This region is influenced by seasonal winds: in summer, moist winds blow from the sea to land, creating a hot, humid rainy season; in winter, dry winds blow from land to sea, resulting in a dry season. Despite high rainfall, the terrain is often steep, and per capita water resources are lower than in Western Europe. Under these conditions, systems for water storage, utilization, and circulation have been developed, forming mutual support networks based on rice cultivation. Moreover, rather than resisting natural disasters like floods, communities have flexibly adapted to them, shaping regional landscapes accordingly.

Let us call these practices cultivated in such climates the 'monsoon Asian community.'

From territorial formation in response to topography, water management, food culture, rhythms, and even views of life and death that regard life as part of a cycle—these are relational systems collectively built to survive local climates, repeatedly practiced and established as environmental design methods within regions. For example, by focusing on monsoon Asia, which shares climatic characteristics, we can see experimental approaches to contemporary living. Even without geographical continuity, we are connected through climate.

Building spaces for coexistence.

We wish to think together with neighbors about communities rooted in local climates and present these experiences at the Japan Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. Constructing such spaces does not stop at monsoon Asia—it reveals the possibility of architecture that lives tomorrow together by finding commonalities.

Huang Sheng-Yuan (Huang Sheng-Yuan)

Architect, Principal of Fieldoffice Architects

Born in Taipei in 1963. Graduated from Tunghai University (Taichung), then earned a Master of Architecture from Yale University. In 1993, he established his base in Yilan and gradually built Fieldoffice Architects. In 2015, he held the exhibition 'Living in Place.' In 2018, he exhibited 'Living with Sky, Water and Mountain: Making Places in Yilan' at the Taiwan Pavilion of the 16th Venice Biennale. In 2021, he was invited to exhibit at the 17th Venice Biennale. In 2026, he will publish 'Walking Lightly Back to the Earth’s Surface,' which presents architectural thinking that returns to land, climate, bodily sensation, and daily life, questioning how to cultivate humble and delicate relationships with the environment, people, time, and even the stars.

Official website: http://www.fieldoffice-architects.com/

Photo: Fieldoffice Architects

Shui Yanfei (Shui Yanfei)

Architect, Principal of Yanfei Architects

Born in Chongqing in 1981. Widely recognized as one of the leading independent architects of China’s 1980s generation. Founded Yanfei Architects in 2012, and continues to explore collaborative practices with society against the backdrop of China’s rapid social transformation. Through diverse activities including regional research, experimental installations, community collaboration, and on-site construction, he works to create architecture that brings new possibilities to everyday life. His works have won numerous awards, including the AIA Shangha