The Türkiye Pavilion, coordinated by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV), will present Grounded at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025, curated by Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa. The Biennale Architettura 2025 will take place from 10 May to 23 November.
Grounded highlights soil as a dynamic yet overlooked resource vital for understanding civilisations, ecosystems and sustainable living. Featuring soil from Türkiye, the exhibition reveals its diverse qualities through sensory experiences, scientific research and artistic interpretations.
Unlike architecture’s tendency to suppress earthiness in pursuit of controlled environments, Grounded places soil at the heart of the pavilion, presenting it as a living entity with intelligence and agency. Visitors engage with its texture, smell and sound, experiencing it as both an ecological system and a living archive of natural and human history.
Grounded also reflects on the impacts of human activities, such as construction, while exploring Türkiye’s rich heritage, archaeological sites and sustainable building practices. By merging vernacular techniques with contemporary innovations, the exhibition envisions architectural approaches that honour nature and culture, inspiring more harmonious ways of living.
Commenting on the relevance of the project, curators of the exhibition Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa said: ‘With Grounded, we invite visitors to view soil not as something separate, but as an integral part of the same fabric of life that surrounds us. It is not merely a surface beneath us or a resource to be extracted; rather, it is a dense, intelligent world in its own right – one we are already part of. Through material experiments, artistic documentation, and scientific observation, the exhibition encourages us to rethink our role in this dynamic exchange. It prompts us to recognise the structures we erode and the possibilities we often overlook. In doing so, it suggests ways of living and building that do not impose but instead listen to and engage with the environment.’
The project’s individual participants are Hüseyin Aksoy, Michael Akstaller, E. Füsun Alioğlu & Senem Akçay, Ali Mahmut Demirel, Sinem Dişli, Yelda Gin, Ali Miharbi, Özgül Öztürk, Serkan Taycan and Orkan Telhan. Bire-Pan, Common Action Walls, Herkes İçin Mimarlık & Poçolana Works, Mono Earth, Ozruh, Rec II, ReYard House, Solidified and Yalın Architects are the participant teams. The architectural research intern team includes Enes Yılmaz, Leonie Todd, Karim Gohary, Neha Goel and Simonida Galovic, while Dicle Beştaş serves as the curatorial assistant. The architectural project is designed by Bilge Kalfa Architecture. Exhibitions visual identity and book are designed by Paleworks, and the editor is Melis Cankara.
The Türkiye Pavilion is co-sponsored by Schüco Türkiye and VitrA, and realised with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye. Fibrobeton and STONELINE support the Türkiye Pavilion as contributing organisations, Turkish Airlines as the airline partner. förni furniture and SAHA Association provide production support. The Türkiye Pavilion has been part of the International Architecture Exhibition since 2014, thanks to the acquisition of Arsenale’s Sale d’Armi for a twenty-year period between 2014 and 2034, on the initiative of İKSV and with the support of twenty-one sponsors.
Project website and book
The project website can be accessed at here.
A book, edited by Melis Cankara, is also being prepared alongside the exhibition. Featuring texts by the curators and artwork descriptions by the participants, the publication will also include contributions from Aytek Soner Alpan, Sevince Bayrak, Ömür Harmanşah, Enise Burcu Karaçizmeli, Burcu Serdar Köknar, Aslı Odman, Bülent Tanju, and Evren Uzer. The book aims to explore the themes addressed in the artworks from diverse perspectives.
Reflecting the layered and dynamic nature of the theme of soil, the book will be published in two volumes, in both Turkish and English. English volume will be available at the Biennale bookstores.
Project details were announced at a press conference in Istanbul
Photograph: Fatih Yılmaz
Curators Ceren Erdem and Bilge Kalfa shared the details of Yerebasan project at a press conference held at Metrohan on 11 March, Tuesday.
Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) General Manager Görgün Taner, representatives of the Türkiye Pavilion co-sponsors Schüco Türkiye General Manager Can Eren and Eczacıbaşı Building Products CEO Hasan Pehlivan also spoke at the press conference.
Photograph: Fatih Yılmaz
İKSV General Director Görgün Taner made the following statement regarding the 2025 Türkiye Pavilion exhibition: 'As the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, we place great importance on the international representation of Türkiye’s cultural, artistic, and intellectual output. Through both the events we organise in Istanbul and our activities abroad, we strive to expand opportunities for international exchange among creative professionals. This year in Venice, guided by our curators, we are presenting an exhibition that brings together a broad range of participants, reinterprets traditional models through new technologies, offers novel perspectives on contemporary issues, and inspires hope for the future. Since securing a permanent venue for our country at the Arsenale in 2014 with the support of 21 contributors, we are pleased that Türkiye has been part of the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice as well. We sincerely thank all the institutions, organisations, and individuals whose contributions have made this exhibition possible.'
Schüco Türkiye General Manager Can Eren said: 'In recent years, we have increasingly focused on developing systems that ensure harmonious integration of human-made structures with their surroundings, striving to contribute to buildings that seamlessly blend into the natural environment. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the “Grounded” project, which deepens our connection to the earth. We are delighted to once again be part of the architecture biennale, as a co-sponsor of the Türkiye Pavilion.'
Eczacıbaşı Building Products CEO Hasan Pehlivan stated: 'We have been proud supporters of the Türkiye Pavilion since 2014, when our country first gained a permanent exhibition space. Ceramics embody the cultural memory of the geography in which they are produced, serving as a bridge between the past and the future. With our VitrA brand, we have been preserving this heritage for 67 years. We are excited to contribute to this valuable project, which will carry the story of the earth into the future through architecture and design.'
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