The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
Hermetically sealed armoured door, a standard element of underground shelters built to withstand shock waves and, in the case of nuclear shelters, to block radiation. Like all objects in the exhibition, it was selected by the curators as part of a dedicated research process—from real, existing pieces sourced and assembled specifically for this project
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
Surveillance camera originally installed in the Pavilion, now deliberately revealed and framed as part of the exhibition—shifting its functional gaze into a curatorial presence
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
Here, gestures old and new—placing a candle in the window, installing a fire alarm—are presented side by side, revealing the continuous thread between ancestral rituals and modern safety protocols
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
A bottle sealed into the wall, containing workers’ signatures and a newspaper—part of a long-standing tradition of leaving a trace inside the building for posterity, a practice still observed today
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
The exhibition at the Polish Pavilion reflects on the continuity between ancient rituals and contemporary safety practices—where lighting a blessed beeswax candle and framing a fire extinguisher are gestures driven by the same human need for protection
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
Instructional graphics by Maciej Siuda illustrating how to use a fire extinguisher—functional drawings integrated into the installation as part of a reflection on safety and everyday ritual
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
Graphics by Maciej Siuda
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
A real fuse from the Pavilion’s electrical system—usually concealed—deliberately exposed and framed within the exhibition, transforming a regulatory safety element into an integral part of the installation
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
The actual bolt used to lock the main entrance to the Polish Pavilion in the Giardini, here framed and displayed at the threshold of the exhibition—a gesture that turns a functional element into a symbol of security
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
The Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
A found horseshoe, hung in a ‘U’ shape to keep luck from spilling out—presented here as part of an open-ended dialogue, without judgment, between ritual gestures, living myths, safety regulations, and emotional needs
Photo credit:
Jacopo Salvi, Zachęta archive
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Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Île Verte seen from a helicopter in December 2024. Home to only around fifty permanent residents, Île Verte experiences stark population fluctuations and exists somewhat apart from the rest of Quebec—like a time capsule where daily needs and available resources are uniquely shaped by isolation. In winter, the river’s ice makes ferry access impossible. While an ice bridge once connected the island to the mainland, climate warming has rendered this option unreliable. Today, for nearly five months each year, residents must rely on helicopter transport to shop, visit family, or participate in social life beyond the island. As generations before them once did, Île Verte’s community must continue to find new ways to adapt.
Photo credit:
Alexis Boivin
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
The architects from Atelier Pierre Thibault—along with intern students from Université Laval—were invited to immerse themselves in the rhythms and realities of Île Verte across the changing seasons. Situated in the Saint Lawrence River, this fourteen-kilometre-long island is defined by its rugged coastline, where rocky beaches are ceaselessly sculpted by by the Nordet winds, its cliffs that open onto the vast estuarial horizon, and its contrasting landscape of pastoral meadows and dense spruce forests.
Photo credit:
Alexis Boivin
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
During visits to Île Verte and through conversations with the Verdoyants—as the island’s residents are known—twelve captivating structures were (re)discovered. Known as boucaneries, these vernacular buildings, inspired by traditional smokehouses, were constructed between the 1920s and 1980s to withstand the island’s particularly harsh climatic conditions.
Photo credit:
Alexis Boivin
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Jean-Marie Cossette
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Jean-Marie Cossette
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Jean-Marie Cossette
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.
Photo credit:
Mireille Caron
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Known as boucaneries, these vernacular buildings, inspired by traditional smokehouses, were constructed between the 1920s and 1980s to withstand the island’s particularly harsh climatic conditions. Once integral to the practice of weir fishing, fish smoking was both an economic driver and a cultural hallmark of life on Île Verte.Characterized by their windowless façades and vertically elongated forms, the boucaneries gradually fell into disuse. Changes in hygiene regulations, along with the decline of the local fishing industry, rendered them obsolete. Since then, wind, snow, and rain have continued to erode these symbolic structures, which, for decades, had remained without a renewed purpose.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
A 2023 report by architect Pascal Létourneau, a specialist in heritage conservation, revealed that among the twelve remaining smokehouses on Île Verte, four possess exceptional heritage value, while six are considered to have high heritage value. Key architectural features such as their pronounced verticality, roof ridge openings, drying pole systems, and humidity control mechanisms were identified as elements worth preserving. Unfortunately, half of these boucaneries are now in an advanced or critical state of deterioration—one even collapsed a few years ago.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
In response to the Verdoyants’ strong desire to preserve and revitalize this unique built heritage, the Atelier launched a participatory design project aimed at exploring new uses for these structures. At the heart of the initiative lies a central question: How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
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Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Map of food self-sufficiency. To better understand and assess the island’s resilience, the architects mapped existing initiatives that support community autonomy. These included: Jacques’ herring and smelt fishing; Marie-Claire’s weekly production of around twenty loaves; Anne and Charles’ flock of twenty lambs; Michelle’s chicken coop; Geneviève’s seed-saving collective; Nolwen and Régis’ homemade dishes and pastries; Véronique and Colin’s honey, lavender, pigs, raspberries, and even lemons; Mijanou’s garlic crops; and Gilbert’s tomato greenhouse.
Photo credit:
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Drawing. How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Drawing. How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Drawing. How can these silent witnesses of the past help shape the future?
Photo credit:
Pierre Thibault
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Models of the boucaneries. An island ideas laboratory to identify new uses.
Photo credit:
Pierre-Ulric Gagné
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Architectural installations to reveal new relationships between landscape, volume, uses, and people
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Architectural installations to reveal new relationships between landscape, volume, uses, and people
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Lightweight and easily transportable, the installations were moved across the island—from the shoreline to fields and meadows—like evocative, nomadic figures.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
The Atelier Pierre Thibault team and intern students from Université Laval.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
Collective Intelligence at the Heart of Adaptation at the Venice Architecture Biennale: Atelier Pierre Thibault and Residents of Île Verte Reinvent the Boucaneries
Atelier Pierre Thibault
Lightweight and easily transportable, the installations were moved across the island—from the shoreline to fields and meadows—like evocative, nomadic figures.
Photo credit:
Alex Lesage
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