For its sixth participation in the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, the National Pavilion UAE presents Pressure Cooker, an exhibition curated by Emirati architect Azza Aboualam, Co-founder of Holesum Studio. In line with the Biennale’s theme “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective”, the showcase investigates how architecture and food production intersect under environmental pressures. On display at the Arsenale (Sale d’Armi, Venice), the exhibition will run through 23 November 2025.
Developed in collaboration with Holesum Studio and a UAE-based team, Pressure Cooker draws from archival research, fieldwork, and design-build experimentation. It examines how food-growing infrastructures in the UAE, ranging from traditional environmental strategies like wind towers and palm-frond shading to cutting-edge agri-tech systems, can offer scalable models for resilience and innovation.
At the heart of the exhibition is a modular “greenhouse kit-of-parts”, a flexible construction system broken into key components: roof, walls, flooring, shading, tools, and materials. These elements are built into multiple full-scale assemblies within the pavilion. Each assembly is calibrated to specific climatic variables, such as sunlight, humidity, irrigation, and temperature. These variables directly affect interior conditions (heat, light, moisture) and ultimately influence crop performance, shaping responsive design strategies.
The greenhouses host a variety of crops, from locally familiar species like cucumbers to unexpected cultivations such as blueberries, and demonstrate the system’s adaptability across different environmental conditions. By embedding real-time monitoring technology into each structure, the pavilion becomes a living laboratory, collecting data on how each greenhouse performs in Venice’s temperate climate compared to the UAE’s arid environment. This comparative research provides valuable insights into how greenhouse architecture can be adapted across global contexts.
Accompanying the exhibition is Pressure Cooker Recipes: An Architectural Cookbook, a publication edited by Azza Aboualam. Blending critical essays, archival materials, and speculative thinking, the book reflects on architecture through the lens of food: reimagining both as systems of care, culture, and survival.
To get more information about Pressure Cooker, please visit the official website of the UAE Pavilion.
In addition, you might be interested in exploring Architectures of the In-Between, a group exhibition at Aisha Alabbar Gallery, and New Western Views (Preview) by Marwan Bassiouni.
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