Re-thinking Urban Spaces: EQUITONE at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale

Context: A Pavilion Rooted in Urban Reality

VENd is presented within the Time Space Existence exhibition, organised by the European Cultural Centre, which runs in parallel with the Venice Architecture Biennale. This year’s curatorial theme “Repair, Regenerate, Reuse”, calls for architectural responses that prioritise circularity, care and long-term resilience in the built environment.

Installed at the Giardini della Marinaressa, VENd reflects this theme through its use of repurposed materials, modular construction and community-focused design. As a pavilion developed by Shiftspace and EQUITONE, it responds not only to material challenges, but also to the spatial and social pressures shaping cities today.

VENd: From Design Showcase to Urban Solution

VENd, designed by Shiftspace in collaboration with EQUITONE, explores how cities can better support informal public spaces like markets and kiosks. These areas are often left out of formal planning, leaving vendors to work in places that are unsafe, poorly regulated or not built for long-term use.

VENd offers a practical response. It is a modular, low-maintenance structure made from off-cuts of EQUITONE fibre cement panels. The design is both durable and adaptable, creating safer, more inclusive spaces that support local economies and public life.

Behind the Vision

The idea behind VENd started with a clear question: how can small, affordable structures better serve street vendors and local communities?

To explore this, Shiftspace partnered with students from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University. The students researched market design for immigrant communities and supported prototyping and fabrication. This collaboration helped shape VENd into a practical response to real urban needs.

Venice, with its cultural heritage, high foot traffic and layered public spaces, offered the ideal setting to introduce this work. VENd invites visitors to imagine how thoughtful, well-built structures can bring dignity, safety and economic opportunity to cities.

Material as an Active Design Element

EQUITONE’s fibre cement panels, traditionally used for facades, are reimagined in VENd as structural and tactile elements:

The Canopy & Counter Top: Made with EQUITONE [inspira], this element showcases how digitally printed fibre cement can create expressive, durable forms that respond to site conditions while offering aesthetic freedom.

The Counter: EQUITONE [lunara] offers a tactile, robust solution with its unique randomised texture, supporting human interaction and wear resistance.

For architects, VENd demonstrates how thoughtful material application can unlock new spatial experiences. For contractors, it proves that complex geometries and custom finishes can be achieved with materials that remain practical for fabrication and assembly.

Circular Design in Action

VENd is also a case study in responsible material use. Every part of the structure is crafted from off-cuts of EQUITONE panels, materials that would otherwise become waste.

The process involves:

• Salvaging panels from production off-cuts
• Re-cutting and reusing them in modular applications
• Recycling scraps into aggregates for concrete production

This is not a concept piece. It is a tested, buildable model of circular design that gives materials a second life. For contractors, it shows how reuse can be built into the process without sacrificing performance.

Why Materials Matter in Shaping Smarter Cities

In parallel, the Biennale’s theme, "Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective," invites reflection on how architecture connects human intelligence, digital systems and collective needs.

For architects and contractors, this translates into two immediate questions:

1. Can ambitious design ideas still be delivered responsibly?
2. Can materials carry more value in structural, social and environmental terms?

VENd offers a grounded answer. It shows how design ambition and material performance can align with circular principles, bringing tangible improvements to urban life.