HENRIQUEZ PARTNERS ARCHITECTS

The exhibition transforms the main hall of Palazzo Bembo into a narrative of the climate crisis inspired by the last remaining Hexactinellida “Symplasma” sponge – glass sponges, the longest-living animals on Earth – found off the northwest coast of the Pacific in Canada. Drawing inspiration from Canaletto and his Venetian cityscapes, the show inserts monumental 3D-printed glass sculptures of marine sponges into his compositions, reimagining them as ‘models’ for Vancouver’s first supertall tower. These sculptures and their renderings form the backdrop to a story in which architecture draws from both the form and the symbiotic essence of nature.