The project for the 19th Architecture Biennale by Salimei, founder of T-Studio, known for the “Green Kilometer” underway in Corviale and the first woman invited to curate the Italian Pavilion, is called TERRÆ AQUÆ. Italy and the Intelligence of the Sea.
“Looking at Italy from the sea is a whole different perspective” says Guendalina Salimei, the newly nominated curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. In a place like Italy, where conservation and neglect go hand in hand, the several projects that have been presented at the Biennale seem visions of a country that is far from being real. It all looks so difficult, an uphill journey, in fact. However, things are looking better.
Salimei is an architect and a teacher of architecture at the Sapienza University in Rome. Known for her Kilometro Verde renovation project of a dilapidated housing project, she is also the first woman to single-handedly curate the Italian Pavilion. The architect worked on over one hundred projects, including renovation projects, upcycling projects, and public architecture both in Italy and abroad. The title of her project for the Biennale is TERRÆ AQUÆ. L’Italia e l’intelligenza del mare (lit. ‘Italy and the intelligence of the Sea’).
