OPERA APERTA CURATORS DESIGN
The Holy See PavilionBiennale Architettura 2025
MARINA OTERO VERZIER + GIOVANNA ZABOTTI
TATIANA BILBAO ESTUDIO + MAIO ARCHITECTS
OPERA APERTA reclaims repair as a creative and radical practice, one that extends beyond buildings to care for institutions, communities, ecosystems, and the fragile ties between them. Over the next six months, an international team and local collectives will carry out a process of social and ecological repair within the Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, focusing on what can be conserved, repurposed, and reactivated. At the heart of this transformation are artisans and restorers. Their work, supported by experimental sessions from the Università Internazionale dell'Arte, ensures that traditional techniques are preserved and passed on. Here, repair is not only structural but relational. It creates conditions for mutual care and seeks to restore value to that which has often been overlooked or neglected. The building's cracks, stains, and weathering are not treated as flaws to be concealed, but as thresholds for transformation. These conditions allow for a reimagining of the relationship between growth and decay; they honor the layered histories embedded in the place and acknowledge the lives of those who came before—while making space for new forms of intelligence to emerge. This attitude permeates every corner of the building, through embodied and restorative experiences such as food and music, open to all. A communal table hosted by Nonsoloverde offers shared meals and invites dialogue between residents and visitors, while rehearsal rooms welcome students from the Conservatory of Music of Venice and their impromptu audiences. The project advocates for an architecture that is responsive rather than prescriptive; a site of cultural and material engagement deeply rooted in the communities it serves: Venice, its inhabitants, those in transit, and the newly arrived. OPERA APERTA is an opportunity to position architecture as an act of stewardship, and to infuse both the discipline and the world at large with a renewed sense of purpose in these uncertain times.
Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Fondamenta S. Gioacchin, Castello 450
Free entrance
Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Fondamenta S. Gioacchin, Castello 450
Free entrance
10 maggio – 23 novembre 2025
Opening hours 11-19 (dal 10 maggio al 28 settembre) e 10-18 (dal 30 settembre al 23 novembre), Closed on Monday
MUSICAL ACTIVATIONS
in collaboration with the Conservatory of Music of Venice. OPERA APERTA embraces a notion of repair that includes cultural exchange through moments of conviviality and music. From Tuesdays to Sundays, these spaces open their doors to musicians, who can reserve instruments—including harpsichord, piano, and grand piano—for rehearsal. Their compositions, experiments, and improvisations drift through the building, inviting all who listen to become part of an unfolding soundscape.
RESTORATION EXPERIMENTS
Two afternoons per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, the UIA – Università Internazionale dell'Arte will host a series of restoration and rehabilitation experiments, ensuring that traditional construction techniques are passed on to new generations and reinforcing a long-term commitment to sustaining these skills. You are welcome to take part and contribute to this conversation on what can—or should—be conserved, repurposed, and reactivated.
Where
Complesso di Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, Fondamenta S. Gioacchin, 450, 30122 Venezia VE, Italia
