As part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, on Thursday, September 25 at 3:00 p.m., at the Speakers’ Corner in the Corderie dell’Arsenale, the second event in the series of meetings organized by the Construction Futures Research Lab, promoted by Fondamentale – the construction supply chain, will take place.
This series of meetings aims to explore the frontiers of robotics and artificial intelligence applied to construction, with a special focus on sustainability and innovation in building.

The event, entitled "Natural Artificial", is part of the GENS Public Programme of the Biennale Architettura 2025, with the intention of investigating the relationship between two types of intelligence: natural intelligence, inherent in human beings and living organisms, and artificial intelligence, created by humans through advanced technologies.
The goal is to foster dialogue between culture and research, analyzing how these two intelligences can collaborate and integrate to design a sustainable future.

"Natural Artificial": the speakers at the event

The day will feature a series of talks by experts and academics from various disciplines, including aesthetics, philosophy of science, architecture, neuroscience, and urban planning.
The meeting will open with a lecture by Professor Paolo D’Angelo, Natural, Artificial, Collective: That Is, Landscape, followed by Giorgio Vallortigara, who will delve into The Great Mystery of Natural Brains. Marta Bertolaso will discuss Living the Hybrid, while Ezio Micelli will present Diffuse Intelligence and the Urban Environment.

The event will also include contributions from Federica Brancaccio, President of the Italian National Association of Building Constructors (ANCE), Fabrizio Salomoni, Head of the Construction Sector at Confcooperative Lavoro e Servizi, and – acting as moderator – Domenico Melidoro (Ethos Luiss), Political Philosophy researcher at Universitas Mercatorum.

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Construction Futures Research Lab: an immersive experience

Participants will be able to experience an immersive journey through the exhibition section of the Construction Futures Research Lab, an integral part of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, entitled “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective.”, curated by Carlo Ratti.
This section will present three projects carried out in collaboration with prestigious international universities – ETH Zurich, Tongji University, and MIT in Boston – illustrating concrete solutions in advanced robotics.

Among the installations on display are: Machine Mosaic by Daniela Rus (MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory), Co-Poiesis by Philip F. Yuan and Bin He (Tongji University), A Robot’s Dream by Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich – MESH and Studio Armin Linke.

Launched last June 13 with the first meeting entitled “Collective Artificial”, this five-part series, conceived and curated by Daniele Pittèri in collaboration with the Ethos Observatory of LUISS Business School, will continue in autumn with the following dates: October 16 – Intelligences for Governing Urban Transformations, November 5 – The Human-Machine Relationship, November 21 – Intelligences at the Service of Heritage.

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All images © Record Studio, courtesy La Biennale di Venezia