Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh is set to design the first new national pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale in Venice, Italy, for 30 years.
Commissioned by Qatar Museums chairperson Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Ghotmeh‘s design will be the 30th permanent national pavilion in the Giardini della Biennale, which hosts the Venice Architecture Biennale.
The Qatar pavilion will be the first national pavilion added to the gardens since 1995, when the South Korea pavilion by Seok Chul Kim and Franco Mancuso opened.
Ghotmeh “deeply honoured to have been chosen”
Located adjacent to the James Stirling-designed Book Pavilion, Ghotmeh’s pavilion will join permanent structures by Alvar Aalto, Carlo Scarpa and Sverre Fehn in the gardens.
“My team and I are deeply honoured to have been chosen for this uniquely exciting and significant project,” said Ghotmeh.
“Qatar is a cultural beacon for the entire Middle East, north Africa, and south Asia region,” she continued. “It is thrilling to be given this opportunity to design Qatar’s pavilion on the historic grounds of the Giardini of La Biennale di Venezia.”
Although the visualisations of the pavilion have not yet been released, it has been revealed that it will have a flexible and adaptable interior that visitors can engage with.
“[Ghotmeh’s] work is inspiring new and traditional audiences with its sensitivity to the human condition and its confident, innovative flair,” said Al Thani.
“Lina has a worldview and sensibility that has grown from her native Lebanon to reach across cultures,” she continued.
“She has wholeheartedly embraced our vision for the Qatar pavilion as a platform for the artistic, architectural, and cultural creativity of our nation and the Middle East, north Africa, and south Asia.”
Ghotmeh designed the 2023 Serpentine Pavilion in London and the Bahrain pavilion for the upcoming Expo 2025 Osaka. She was also recently selected to renovate a gallery in London’s British Museum.
This year’s Venice Architecture Biennale will open on 10 May with the theme Intelligens Natural Artificial Collective, curated by Italian architect Carlo Ratti.
In an exclusive interview with Dezeen, Ratti said that people will be the centre of the biennale over technology and that “this certainly won’t be the tech bro biennale”.
The top photo is by Kimberly Lloyd.
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