In a world shaped by ecological, climatic, and social upheavals, how can we live differently and build within constraints? 

For the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, “Vivre avec / Living with” is an exhibition that questions the role of architecture in the face of contemporary transformations. 

Designed by Dominique Jakob and Brendan MacFarlane, in collaboration with Martin Duplantier and Éric Daniel-Lacombe, the exhibition will be held outside the French Pavilion, which is currently undergoing renovation. 

While the French Pavilion is closed for renovation, the project “Vivre avec / Living with” takes over its immediate surroundings. Situated between the pavilion under renovation and the canal, this new temporary space has been designed as an open and inclusive shelter. 

The pavilion itself embodies the concept of “Living with”: living with its environment, landscape, and surroundings. The curatorial team draws inspiration from the construction site, the garden, and the canal, making the ongoing renovation an integral part of the architectural, scenographic, and sensory experience offered to visitors. 

Thanks to this extraordinary off-site setting, the pavilion, which typically faces away from the canal, will for the first time open toward the water—a key element of the Venetian landscape and infrastructure—creating a microclimate sheltered from direct sunlight. 

A living illustration of the contemporary world challenged to turn toward nature, change its attitude toward its surroundings, and embrace acceptance, responsibility, mutualism, and local knowledge. 

Having decided to integrate the renovation of the existing building into the project, the curators wanted this to become the first part of the scenographic content.

The starting point and first theme will therefore be to work with the existing, using the building itself as an in situ exhibition piece. From there, visitors will explore six major themes as they enter the temporary space and move around the existing building: 

• Living with... the existing
• Living with... proximities
• Living with... the damaged
• Living with... vulnerabilities
• Living with... nature and the living world
• Living with... collective intelligences. 

To minimize the project's carbon footprint, the architects have designed a scenography created on-site in Venice, thereby avoiding the transport of models. They also propose using a selection of reusable or recyclable materials, ensuring a zero-waste approach. All elements of the temporary pavilion and scenography are designed to be reused.