With the assertion that architecture needs to return to its essence, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu have established the central principle of their curatorial vision for the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. This event will take place from May 8 to November 21, 2027, covering the Giardini, the Arsenale, and the entire city of Venice. The exhibition, titled 'Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality,' aims to encourage a return to the physical act of building, as the curation suggests that the discipline has drifted from lived reality due to excessive abstraction, commercialization, and digitalization.
The curators suggest a new engagement with the present, raising questions about the meaning of practicing architecture today by utilizing materials, construction methods, local knowledge, and direct experience. This line of reasoning is supported by concepts underpinning the work of Amateur Architecture Studio, founded by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu in 1997, focusing particularly on exploring traditional construction techniques, material reuse, and the connection between architecture and its place.
The show also places coexistence at the center of debates, investigating how architecture can harmonize seemingly opposite conditions, such as technology versus craftsmanship, or urban and rural construction modes, while remaining anchored in the specific realities of each region.
Before the start of the 2027 Venice Biennale, ArchDaily interviewed Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu to discuss the ideas behind 'Do Architecture' and the themes defining their curatorial proposal. The conversation explored what it means to reclaim the essence of architecture, ranging from the growing distance between architectural discourse and physical construction to the role of artificial intelligence, local knowledge, and practical experimentation. It also analyzed whether a traditionally representation-focused exhibition could become a space for creation and the impact of this shift on the future of professional practice, centering on the question: what does it mean to make architecture today?
Why 'Do Architecture' and why now?
When questioned by Christele Harrouk (ArchDaily) about the title of the 2027 Venice Biennale, which begins with the direct order 'Do Architecture' [Make Architecture], they were asked why they considered it crucial to bring the discussion back to the act of building at this specific time and what, in their view, architecture has lost or moved away from, making this return necessary.
Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu argued that contemporary architecture is declining due to over-abstraction and conceptualization, rampant commercialization, and disinterest in the real architectural activities occurring outside the dominant circuit. For this reason, 'making architecture' acquires vital relevance in the current times.
Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu added that excessive abstraction has always been a problem in modern architecture, noting that architects, especially those designing large buildings, are disconnected from builders and designers. Commerce-driven architecture increasingly seeks quick and impressive superficial changes, transforming it into a merely decorative activity applied onto basic structures—a large-scale reproduction of superficial forms. They emphasized that local constructions and spontaneous activities outside the hegemonic circuit have long been neglected, concluding that the architecture dominating institutional discourse is losing its essence and risks extinction.
From Question to 'Doing'
When asked about the transition from previous themes of the Venice Biennale—such as 'How will we live together?' (2021), The Laboratory of the Future (2023), and Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. (2025)—to the focus on 'Do Architecture' in 2027, Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu indicated that prioritizing the 'present' is even more important, as people tend to avoid the current impasse by projecting their anxiety into the future. They see the 'making architecture' proposal as a change of direction. While questioning refers to reality, imagination is a necessary tool to understand and activate it, and experimentation only makes sense when it is a rigorous test against reality.
For them, the main question is not why 'make architecture,' but how to realize it and with what attitude towards reality. Experiments that confront reality are considered more radical and difficult than those based on future projections. The Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition is seen as the space with the greatest potential to host such radical experiments.
What is 'Real Reality'?
Regarding the expression 'facing a real reality' in their curatorial statement, they defined that the deepest crisis faced by humanity since the 19th century in the field of architecture is the conflict between nature and large-scale artificial construction. Driven by the desire for global development and in the name of modernity, this activity, despite generating enormous transformations, is destructive due to the homogenization it imposes on nature, history, and local culture.
They emphasized that architectural actions fundamentally shape the environment where people live, making it imperative to present a response to this crisis. Just as biodiversity in nature, the cultural charm of global cities and villages resides in diversity. Therefore, the essence of real reality is diversity, which equals multiple possibilities. This implies that architectural making differs drastically from purely conceptual design, rejecting any simplification of life in the name of modernity.
From Talking About Architecture to Making Architecture
Concerning the idea that architecture 'should not just be discussed, but above all, directly realized,' they acknowledged that architecture is embedded in a vast ecosystem of images, publications, academic discourses, digital platforms, and AI-generated representations. They agreed that the trend of abstraction and conceptualization in modern architecture was accelerated by digitalization, causing architects to lose tactile contact with the material world, physical experience, and even the basic sense of scale after the widespread adoption of computer-aided design.
Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu pointed out that excessively abstract debates and the extreme abstraction of the design itself lead to disdain for rich and distinct local characteristics. Regarding coexistence, they stated that the term reflects a shared feeling of alienation regarding survival in the modern world, and their biggest concern is whether architecture can help preserve or restore the coexistence of diversity.
They concluded that people's ability to coexist depends on their ability to collaborate. When architectural practices are based on direct contact and manual construction, human sensitivity and experience are completely altered, originating from distinct local particularities, which points to entirely different perceptions and paths in architecture.
Technology, Intelligence, and Making
Faced with the rise of artificial intelligence, they observed that this technological wave is a global reality, but essentially represents the polarization of a world that was already abstract and conceptual. Although AI offers convenience and efficiency, it proves illusory and powerless against the concrete physical world and survival. Moving towards an architecture that values physical experience is an inevitable struggle.
When asked what they required of participants when inviting them to respond to the theme 'Do Architecture,' they clarified that the concept of 'making architecture' is more defined by 'how to make.' In the Architecture Biennale, there is a much greater emphasis on displaying the process and the authenticity of execution, constituting an exhibition of architectural practices based on physical construction, functioning as a conscious critique.