PORCH: AN ARCHITECTURE OF GENEROSITY, U.S. PAVILION
19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia
May 10 – November 23, 2025

PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, the U.S. Pavilion’s presentation at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, will open to the public on May 10, 2025, with previews during the Biennale’s Vernissage from May 8-9, 2025. Organized by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas in partnership with DesignConnects and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, PORCH is co-commissioned by Peter MacKeith, Susan Chin, and Rod Bigelow. The exhibition and site-specific installation positions the American PORCH as a powerful architectural and cultural space of welcoming, community, and imagination and aligns with the Biennale’s overarching theme, Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective.

A Design Team comprised of Marlon Blackwell Architects, Stephen Burks Man Made, D.I.R.T. studio, and TEN x TEN worked with the Co-Commissioners to transform the Pavilion into a contemporary PORCH. Built from prefabricated mass timber and rammed earth of Venetian provenance, the exhibition features curated art and objects, generous seating, and a shaded platform for dialogue and exchange.

Inside the Pavilion, fifty-four participants from across the U.S. and its territories showcase the diversity of contemporary American design, each contributing an immersive “PORCH window.” Selected through a national juried Open Call, the participants offer a multifaceted portrait of American architecture that spans geographies, scales, disciplines, and identities.

Additionally, a researched display tracing the history of the American porch and its evolving role in American culture accompanies the installation, offering visitors insight into the architectural, social, and symbolic significance of the enduring typology.

An ongoing display of PORCH: A Library brings a curated collection of texts that explore the porch as a threshold of learning, memory, and imagination. This exhibition element invites visitors to reflect on spaces where private life meets public engagement and where individual experience gives way to collective understanding.

“PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity reflects the best of American architecture. Generous in spirit, grounded in place, and open to the world, it exemplifies how architecture can invite connection and inspire imagination” said Peter MacKeith, Dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, University of Arkansas. “The exhibition is the product of an extraordinary coming together of design talent, institutional support, and curatorial intention, and we are grateful for everyone involved.”

“PORCH is an open invitation to gather, to exchange, and to experience the power of architecture and design as a connector,” said Susan Chin, Founding Principal, DesignConnects. “Through its spatial presence, curated educational components, and multidisciplinary expression, our exhibition celebrates community and creativity in all their forms.”

“PORCH reminds us that culture lives not just in institutions, but in the spaces where people come together,” said Rod Bigelow, Executive Director, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary. “This exhibition extends that idea with openness and generosity, creating a place where architecture, art, and community meet.”

As a living platform for engagement activated by programming and cultural exchange, PORCH Fests will enhance the exhibition experience and take place over four key weekends: Pre/Opening Weekend (May 9–11), Independence Day/4th of July (July 4–6), Labor Day (August 30–September 1), and Closing Weekend (November 21–23).

During PORCH Fest days, the Pavilion will host artistic guests, members of the PORCH Design Team, exhibitors, MacArthur and American Academy in Rome Prize Fellows and Residents, and AIA Gold Medal recipients. Through artistic expression, Design Dialogues, and interactive exchange, these gatherings will foster connection and shared experience and will feature song, dance, storytelling, workshops, and more.

Following the close of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, select components of PORCH will be disassembled and transported to the University of Arkansas Rome Center. There, architecture students will study and redesign these materials for adaptive reuse as educational installations in Italian middle and high schools across Rome, Milan, and Venice. This phase of the project extends the educational mission of PORCH by transforming exhibition elements into learning tools that illustrate spatial concepts, community engagement, and resiliency. Ultimately, this next chapter reinforces PORCH’s core message that architecture and design are tools to build relationships and imagine more generous futures.

more. www.porchusavenice2025.com