The 19th International Architecture Exhibition, curated by Carlo Ratti and organized by La Biennale di Venezia, officially opened on May 10 under the theme: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. Held every two years, the Venice Biennale is one of the most influential and prestigious international cultural events, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and showcasing cutting-edge architecture and design. This year showcases hundreds of projects at the Arsenale and other venues examining how material innovation, sustainability, and sensory experience reshape architecture. Many of the exhibits at the Biennale explored urgent global challenges, climate change, urban heat and sustainability.

For the first time in Georgian architectural history, Idaaf Architects was invited to present the installation Alizi at the Arsenale, Material Bank. In this Material Bank project, professors Ingrid Paoletti and Stefano Capolongo, with the Nobel laureate Konstantin Novosëlov and scenographer Margherita Palli Rota join forces to show us how material innovation can change the very foundations of architecture.

Against this backdrop, Idaaf Architects’ Alizi installation aligns well by embracing zero-waste adobe and vernacular practices. While many installations focused on futuristic tech or large-scale infrastructure, Alizi brings material intelligence back to the ground by showing how ancestral building methods can contribute to low-impact, adaptable architecture.

Idaaf Architects responded to the curators’ theme with Alizi, [Alizi / ალიზი – means ‘adobe brick’ in Georgian] adobe brick installation that explores modular, zero-waste architecture rooted in Georgian vernacular traditions and designed for adaptable, low-impact construction. The ‘Alizi’ installation includes 8 pieces of IAS and 8 pieces of IAM Bricks. It is a modern continuation of Georgian Architectural tradition of Adobe and was created with the idea of improving the unstable construction environment. ‘Alizi’ is a manifesto against modern industrial construction materials whose non-ecological production has led the world to face global warming and the disasters caused by it.

The Venice Architecture Biennale runs until November 23, 2025. We invite you to experience ALIZI and imagine a future grounded in what we already have – beneath our feet.

Visitor comment: “In a city of bricks that does not like change, you brought a brick that’s completely different. That’s courageous.”