Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale

Our works for the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale also features the setting up of the Pavilion of the Kingdom of Bahrain Sweating Assets at the Artiglierie dell’Arsenale, curated by architects Latifa Alkhayat and Maryam Aljomairi.

Imagined as a display of micro-environments, the exhibition investigates past, present and future water practices in Bahrain and highlights the relationship between the extreme heat and humidity that characterize Bahrain and its intrinsic need for comfort. The exhibition aims to show how the cooling infrastructure can be maximized through adaptive means and resource management, while reducing its impact on the environment.

The pavilion thus presents a micro-environment of temperature, humidity and condensation, which mimic the conditions of life on the island in order to explore the potential of reusing the condensation produced by intense air conditioning, to redirect it towards wetlands and regions farms that need replenishment and thus reinsert it into a wider ecology, discovering further possibilities opened up by its necessary use. Through a system of facings, channels and grooves, the installation thus displays a closed-loop condensation water collection system. The journey is completed by the publication Sweating Assets: On Climate Conditioning and Ecology, which provides numerical analyses, speculations and qualitative writing dedicated to cooling infrastructure and its environmental implications.

Photo by:
Andrea Avezzù
Jacopo Salvi
Marco Zorzanello
Matteo de Mayda

Courtesy:
La Biennale di Venezia