Monterrey Tech’s ‘Living Labs’ project earns spotlight at Venice Architecture Biennale

A pioneering Mexican task developed by Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech) is portion of the main accumulation astatine the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, 1 of the world’s astir prestigious forums for architectural innovation.

Titled “Tech-Community Driven Living Labs: Fostering Care Ecologies,” the task was 1 of approximately 300 selected and is the lone university-led inaugural from Latin America featured successful this year’s main exhibition.

The Venice Architecture Biennale — held each 2 years successful expansive locations specified arsenic the historical shipyard Arsenale and the pavilion parkland Giardini — has brought unneurotic much than 760 individuals and teams who are exploring the aboriginal of the built environment.

The 2025 edition, curated by the Italian-born architect, technologist and MIT prof Carlo Ratti, revolves astir the taxable “Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective.”

The event, which opened connected Saturday, serves arsenic a “dynamic laboratory,” organizers said, uniting experts from divers fields to code pressing planetary challenges specified arsenic clime alteration and societal resilience.

Organizers are particularly excited that this year’s lawsuit includes not lone the modular lineup of architects and engineers, but besides “mathematicians and clime scientists, philosophers and artists, chefs and coders, writers and woodcarvers, farmers and manner designers.”

Monterrey Tech’s task stands retired for its applied probe and community-driven approach.

The inaugural established “living laboratories” successful 3 Mexican regions: Julimes, Chihuahua; La Primavera Forest successful Jalisco; and the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve successful Querétaro.

The Living Labs inaugural showcases sustainable solutions successful Jalisco, Querétaro and Chihuahua. (Tec de Monterrey)

In Julimes, a agrarian municipality of astir 5,000 connected the Conchos River, arsenic and fluoride h2o filters and solar-powered greenhouses with drone monitoring were co-developed with section residents to code wellness risks.

In Jalisco, a information of the Las Tortugas River was invigorated by utilizing small, nature-based interventions that harvester sanitation strategies, biology acquisition and regenerative ecotourism, specified arsenic creating nationalist spaces that let communities to reconnect with the stream and its ecosystems.

In Querétaro, the absorption was connected liable tourism and wood absorption models successful the biosphere reserve.

“Our labs integrate collective, earthy and artificial quality to make replicable solutions,” said Emanuele Giorgi, a task lead.

“Our information is aimed astatine showing however architecture, from a assemblage perspective, tin beryllium a captious instrumentality for exploring caller ways of surviving successful the look of clime and societal challenges,” said Alfredo Hidalgo, nationalist dean of Monterrey Tech’s School of Architecture, Art, and Design.

The squad astatine the 2025 Architecture Biennale successful Venice, Italy. (Tec de Monterrey)

Monterrey Tech’s task progressive immoderate 280 students and collaborators, though lone 5 are listed connected the authoritative entry: Giorgi, Hidalgo, Carlos Cobreros, Maria Elena de la Torre Escoto and Maximillian Nowotka.

The biennale’s apical honor, the Golden Lion, this twelvemonth went to Bahrain for its innovative “Heatwave” installation, which offers climate-responsive cooling for nationalist spaces. In all, determination are 65 nationalist pavilions being showcased astatine 3 locations successful Venice.

The accumulation volition proceed highlighting architecture’s captious relation successful addressing planetary biology and societal issues done Nov. 23.

Mexico News Daily