Japan Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale Explores 'In-Between' Intelligence

The Japan Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, titled 'In-Between', challenges human centrality by reimagining intelligence as distributed across species, minerals, and AI. Curated by architect Jun Aoki, the pavilion is promoted by the Japan Foundation and runs until November 23, 2025. It draws on the Japanese concept of 'ma'—an intermediate space-time—to dissolve dualities between subject and object, human and environment. The installation occupies both floors of the pavilion at the Giardini, featuring ceramic 3D-printed tubes filled with soil where plants grow throughout the exhibition, symbolizing a restored relationship with nature. Two artistic teams—Taichi Sunayama + Toshikatsu Kiuchi and Asako Fujikura + Takahiro Ohmura—present dialogues between architecture and digital, and a video simulating a relational AI. A square hole connects the two levels, representing fragmented knowledge seeking unity. The pavilion recently underwent renovation by architect Toyo Ito, funded by the Ishibashi Foundation, adding solar panels and heat-insulating paint. Aoki, director of the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum and professor emeritus at Tokyo University of the Arts, founded Jun Aoki & Associates (now AS Co., Ltd) after working with Arata Isozaki and Associates.