THE JAPAN PAVILION 2025
19th International Architecture Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia
10 May – 23 November 2025
The Japan Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, explores the architectural intelligence required for the future under the theme of “In-Between.”
We often perceive our environment as something to be manipulated—a view that may lie at the root of the climate crisis. While advancing technology is essential, innovation alone cannot fully address the issue, nor is rejecting technology for a return to nature a viable solution.
What we need is a third form of “Intelligens”—one that avoids the extremes of control and helplessness, and rejects the binary view that the environment is either fully controllable or entirely beyond influence.
Manipulation implies a split between subject and object. To challenge this, we begin with a thought experiment: to imagine a horizon where such divisions dissolve.
In Japanese culture, the concept of ma, meaning “in-between time/space,” offers an alternative. More than empty space, ma is a dynamic tension between entities, forming a void-like subjectivity that exists neither within the human nor the external world, but in-between.
This in-between is a space of mutual exchange, where boundaries between human and non-human, nature and artifact blur. Here, one participates not as master or observer, but as part of a dialogue.
To explore this idea, we turn to the architecture of the Japan Pavilion, imagining a near-future where its elements—Hole, Wall Columns, Outer Walls, Brick Terrace, Pensilina, Tilted Loop Path, and Yew Tree—interact and exchange information. Humans join as equal participants in an evolving conversation enabled by AI, pointing toward new forms of coexistence.
(Jun Aoki)
Composer / Sound Designer | ermhoi |
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Sound Engineer | Makoto Oshiro |
Project Management | Tomoko Shinagawa |
| Yuko Machida |
| Yukiko Iwase |
Exhibition Assistant | Sky Araki |
| Michibumi Ito |
| Issei Kouda |
| Yu Matsumoto |
| Yuta Saito |
Graphic Design | Akiko Wakabayashi |
Book Editor | Nao Amino |
Fabrication | alcarol | Andrea Forti & Eleonora Dal Farra (Reflective Saucer) |
| Barna Gergely Péter (Clay Rail) |
Film Production | Lisa Aoki (Cinematographer) |
| Eri Kanzaki (Production Manager) |
| KAORU [Kaoru Mitsui] (Food Stylist) |
| Shuma Ozawa (Filming assistant) |
| Takahiro Fujii (Film lighting expert) |
| Arisa Ueji (Hair and make up artist) |
| Hidetoshi Inanaga (Prop Construction) |
Technical Engineering | Yuya Ito |
Structural Engineering | Tomomi Kimura |
Local Coordination | Harumi Muto |
Actors | Kie Onikubo |
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| Shuji Morita |
| Takuto Ohta |
| Rie Alison |
| Kyoko Ano |
Voice Actors | Kevin Mchugh |
| Ena Morita |
| Shuji Morita |
| Julia Shortreed |
| Jua |
| HIMI |
Musician | Yuri Kamei (1st Vn) |
| Tomohiro Ishii (2nd Vn) |
| Mei Mishina (Viola) |
| Sonoko Muraoka (Vc) |
| Marty Holoubek (Double Bass) |
| Taikimen (Marimba) |
With the Special Support of | Ishibashi Foundation |
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With the Support of | TAISEI CORPORATION |
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| TAKENAKA CORPORATION |
| KAJIMA CORPORATION |
| The Obayashi Foundation |
| YKK AP Inc. |
| Sanwa Facade Laboratory Corporation |
| Hitoshi Tanaka |
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| Hideaki Fukutake |
| Yasuharu Ishikawa |
| Katsushige Kambara |
| Yoshiko Mori |
| Rina Matsuda |
| Hiroaki Sakai |
| Takafumi Takahashi |
| Michiyoshi Takuma |
| Hiroyuki Maki |
| Takayuki Ishii |
| Tomio Koyama |
| Taro Nasu |
| Yutaka Kikutake |
| Kotaro Nukaga |
| Norimichi Hirakawa |
| Kengo Kito |
| Daito Manabe |
| Mika Ninagawa |
| Kei Takemura |
In Special Coorperaton with | kolor |
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In Coorperaton with | DELTA ELECTRONICS (JAPAN), INC. |
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| EventRegist Co., Ltd. |
| HP Japan Inc. |
| KYOTO Design Lab, the Kyoto Institute of Technology (Ceramic 3D Print Fabrication Coorperation) |
| mgn Co., Ltd. |
Special Thanks to | Tariq Heijboer (Title typeface) |
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| Yusuke Nakajima |
| Richi Owaki |