<p>The Unfrozen crew hit the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale with all the furious energy our 100th episode deserved. A rollicking roundup of robots, pans, picks, porches and pavilions, with special guest interviews: <a href="https://michelechampagne.com/">Michele Champagne</a>, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/authors/kate-wagner/">Kate Wagner</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisajahn/">Marisa Moran Jahn</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bekim-ramku-50154314/">Bekim Ramku</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafi-segal-22b860b/">Rafi Segal</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannegang/">Jeanne Gang</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-cavagnero/">Mark Cavagnero</a>. And finally, while Rome picked a pontiff, we had our own mini-conclave in Venice and humbly offered up our picks for the 20th Biennale curator. Join us for this extra special centenary episode.</p><p>--</p><p>Intro/Outro: “Bounder of Adventure,” by The Cooper Vane</p><p>--</p><p>Discussed:</p><p>-      Olly Wainwright: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/09/robots-aperol-spritz-venice-architecture-biennale-2025-review-3d">Can robots make the perfect Aperol spritz? – Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 review | Architecture | The Guardian</a></p><p>-         Rowan Moore: <a href="https://observer.co.uk/culture/architecture/article/venice-architecture-biennale-review-2025">Venice Architecture Biennale review: ‘a hot mess of pretension’ | The Observer</a></p><p>-         <a href="https://nyra.nyc/">The New York Architecture Review</a> crew: Nicolas, Chloe and Sammy</p><p>-         International Exhibition in the Arsenale</p><p>o  Robots, hemp, bio-concrete, 8-point font with AI-assisted summaries</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkatecrawford/">Kate Crawford</a> and Vladan Joier’s megascale text: <a href="https://calculatingempires.net/">Calculating Empires</a></p><p>o   Bjarke Ingels Group’s entry: <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/collective/ancient-future-bridging-bhutan%E2%80%99s-tradition-and-innovation">Ancient Future</a>, with Bhutanese carvers paced by an ABB robot</p><p>o  Christopher Hawthorne’s Speaker’s Corner</p><p>o  Shades of Rem Koolhaas’ 2014 Fundamentals edition</p><p>-         Kate Wagner’s review:</p><p>o  Dated techno-optimism</p><p>o  Cannibalism of architecture by art and exhibition design</p><p>-         National Pavilions:</p><p>o  Austria: “<a href="https://labiennale2025.at/en/">Agency for Better Living</a>”</p><p>o  Canada: “<a href="https://picoplanktonics.com/">Picoplanktonics</a>” by The Living Room Collective</p><p>o  Denmark: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/denmark">Build of Site</a>”</p><p>o  Estonia: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/estonia">Let Me Warm You</a>”</p><p>o  Romania: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/romania">Human Scale</a>”</p><p>o  Saudi Arabia: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/saudi-arabia">The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection</a>”</p><p>o  Slovenia: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/slovenia-republic">Master Builders</a>”</p><p>o  South Korea: “<a href="https://www.korean-pavilion.or.kr/exhibition/">Little Toad, Little Toad</a>”, but mainly <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kw1x3kkbix25j6vx9o1ay/IMG_0121.JPG?rlkey=gbsx4xmlxtlbku8z8nz6r84ho&st=ve0ioz2y&dl=0">this cat</a></p><p>o  Spain: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/spain">Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium</a>”</p><p>o  UAE: “<a href="https://sharjah24.ae/en/Articles/2025/05/08/a15">Pressure Cooker</a>”</p><p>o  USA: “<a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150479522/welcome-inside-the-porch-first-photos-of-the-completed-u-s-pavilion-at-the-2025-venice-biennale">Porch</a>: An Architecture of Generosity”</p><p>§  Curators: </p><p>·        <a href="https://fayjones.uark.edu/people/faculty-and-staff/profile.php?name=Peter-MacKeith&uid=mackeith&department=Dean">Peter MacKeith</a>, Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas</p><p>·        <a href="https://www.amacad.org/person/rod-bigelow">Rod Bigelow</a>, Executive Director, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art</p><p>·        <a href="https://www.marlonblackwell.com/">Marlon Blackwell</a>, Marlon Blackwell Architects</p><p>·        <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-chin-faia-b25b0b12/">Susan Chin</a>, Design Connects</p><p>·        <a href="https://stephenburksmanmade.com/">Stephen Burks, Man Made</a></p><p>§  Shades of the timber-themed <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2021/05/20/us-pavilion-american-framing-venice-architecture-biennale-2021/">2021 exhibit</a>, but with a twist</p><p>§  Interview with Mark Cavagnero, <a href="https://www.cavagnero.com/">Mark Cavagnero Associates</a>, on participation in Porch and his work <a href="https://www.cavagnero.com/project/oakland-museum-of-california/">updating the original 1969 design</a> of the <a href="https://museumca.org/">Oakland Museum of California</a> by Kevin Roche and Dan Kiley </p><p>o  <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/uzbekistan-republic">Uzbekistan: A Matter of Radiance</a></p><p>-         Interview with collaborators on <a href="https://architecture.mit.edu/news/creative-industry-hub-design-wins-international-competition">Art-Tek Tulltorja</a>, conversion of former brick works into a tech hub and community center, Pristina, Kosovo:</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafi-segal-22b860b/">Rafi Segal</a>, Associate Professor, Architecture &amp; Urbanism, MIT</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisajahn/">Marisa Moran Jahn</a>, Director, Integrated Design,Parsons School of Design</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bekim-ramku-50154314/">Bekim Ramku</a>, OUD+ Architects</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nol-binakaj-7529b158/">Nol Binakaj</a>, OUD+ Architects</p><p>-         Interview with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Gang">Jeanne Gang</a>, amidst a Bio-Blitz powered by the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a> app and featuring a “disco ball for bees”</p><p>-         Unfrozen’s nominations for 2027 Biennale curator:</p><p>o  <a href="https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/people/carolyn-whitzman/">Carolyn Whitzman</a>, Senior Housing Researcher, Schoolof Cities, University of Toronto and author of <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/home-truths">Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisis</a></p><p>o  <a href="https://firstpeoplesgroup.com/staff/diane-longboat/">Diane Longboat</a>, Senior Manager, StrategicInitiatives, Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto</p><p>§  See: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/camh-bolsters-sweat-lodge-for-indigenous-clients-1.3651943">Sweat lodge at the Center</a></p><p>o  <a href="https://www.atelierten.com/team/patrick-bellew/">Patrick Bellew</a>, Chief Sustainability Officer, Surbana Jurong (Atelier Ten)</p><p>§  Gardens by the Bay cooling system,powered by incinerated tree trimming waste</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/personnel">Peter Barber</a>, Peter Barber Architects</p><p>o  <a href="https://forensic-architecture.org/about/team/member/eyal-weizman">Eyal Weizman</a>, Forensic Architecture</p><p>-         Stafford Beer: “The purpose of the system is what it does.”</p>

Show Notes

<p>The Unfrozen crew hit the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale with all the furious energy our 100th episode deserved. A rollicking roundup of robots, pans, picks, porches and pavilions, with special guest interviews: <a href="https://michelechampagne.com/">Michele Champagne</a>, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/authors/kate-wagner/">Kate Wagner</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisajahn/">Marisa Moran Jahn</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bekim-ramku-50154314/">Bekim Ramku</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafi-segal-22b860b/">Rafi Segal</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannegang/">Jeanne Gang</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-cavagnero/">Mark Cavagnero</a>. And finally, while Rome picked a pontiff, we had our own mini-conclave in Venice and humbly offered up our picks for the 20th Biennale curator. Join us for this extra special centenary episode.</p><p>--</p><p>Intro/Outro: “Bounder of Adventure,” by The Cooper Vane</p><p>--</p><p>Discussed:</p><p>-      Olly Wainwright: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/09/robots-aperol-spritz-venice-architecture-biennale-2025-review-3d">Can robots make the perfect Aperol spritz? – Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 review | Architecture | The Guardian</a></p><p>-         Rowan Moore: <a href="https://observer.co.uk/culture/architecture/article/venice-architecture-biennale-review-2025">Venice Architecture Biennale review: ‘a hot mess of pretension’ | The Observer</a></p><p>-         <a href="https://nyra.nyc/">The New York Architecture Review</a> crew: Nicolas, Chloe and Sammy</p><p>-         International Exhibition in the Arsenale</p><p>o  Robots, hemp, bio-concrete, 8-point font with AI-assisted summaries</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkatecrawford/">Kate Crawford</a> and Vladan Joier’s megascale text: <a href="https://calculatingempires.net/">Calculating Empires</a></p><p>o   Bjarke Ingels Group’s entry: <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/collective/ancient-future-bridging-bhutan%E2%80%99s-tradition-and-innovation">Ancient Future</a>, with Bhutanese carvers paced by an ABB robot</p><p>o  Christopher Hawthorne’s Speaker’s Corner</p><p>o  Shades of Rem Koolhaas’ 2014 Fundamentals edition</p><p>-         Kate Wagner’s review:</p><p>o  Dated techno-optimism</p><p>o  Cannibalism of architecture by art and exhibition design</p><p>-         National Pavilions:</p><p>o  Austria: “<a href="https://labiennale2025.at/en/">Agency for Better Living</a>”</p><p>o  Canada: “<a href="https://picoplanktonics.com/">Picoplanktonics</a>” by The Living Room Collective</p><p>o  Denmark: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/denmark">Build of Site</a>”</p><p>o  Estonia: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/estonia">Let Me Warm You</a>”</p><p>o  Romania: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/romania">Human Scale</a>”</p><p>o  Saudi Arabia: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/saudi-arabia">The Um Slaim School: An Architecture of Connection</a>”</p><p>o  Slovenia: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/slovenia-republic">Master Builders</a>”</p><p>o  South Korea: “<a href="https://www.korean-pavilion.or.kr/exhibition/">Little Toad, Little Toad</a>”, but mainly <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kw1x3kkbix25j6vx9o1ay/IMG_0121.JPG?rlkey=gbsx4xmlxtlbku8z8nz6r84ho&st=ve0ioz2y&dl=0">this cat</a></p><p>o  Spain: “<a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/spain">Internalities: Architectures for Territorial Equilibrium</a>”</p><p>o  UAE: “<a href="https://sharjah24.ae/en/Articles/2025/05/08/a15">Pressure Cooker</a>”</p><p>o  USA: “<a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150479522/welcome-inside-the-porch-first-photos-of-the-completed-u-s-pavilion-at-the-2025-venice-biennale">Porch</a>: An Architecture of Generosity”</p><p>§  Curators: </p><p>·        <a href="https://fayjones.uark.edu/people/faculty-and-staff/profile.php?name=Peter-MacKeith&uid=mackeith&department=Dean">Peter MacKeith</a>, Fay Jones School of Architecture, University of Arkansas</p><p>·        <a href="https://www.amacad.org/person/rod-bigelow">Rod Bigelow</a>, Executive Director, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art</p><p>·        <a href="https://www.marlonblackwell.com/">Marlon Blackwell</a>, Marlon Blackwell Architects</p><p>·        <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-chin-faia-b25b0b12/">Susan Chin</a>, Design Connects</p><p>·        <a href="https://stephenburksmanmade.com/">Stephen Burks, Man Made</a></p><p>§  Shades of the timber-themed <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2021/05/20/us-pavilion-american-framing-venice-architecture-biennale-2021/">2021 exhibit</a>, but with a twist</p><p>§  Interview with Mark Cavagnero, <a href="https://www.cavagnero.com/">Mark Cavagnero Associates</a>, on participation in Porch and his work <a href="https://www.cavagnero.com/project/oakland-museum-of-california/">updating the original 1969 design</a> of the <a href="https://museumca.org/">Oakland Museum of California</a> by Kevin Roche and Dan Kiley </p><p>o  <a href="https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2025/uzbekistan-republic">Uzbekistan: A Matter of Radiance</a></p><p>-         Interview with collaborators on <a href="https://architecture.mit.edu/news/creative-industry-hub-design-wins-international-competition">Art-Tek Tulltorja</a>, conversion of former brick works into a tech hub and community center, Pristina, Kosovo:</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rafi-segal-22b860b/">Rafi Segal</a>, Associate Professor, Architecture &amp; Urbanism, MIT</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisajahn/">Marisa Moran Jahn</a>, Director, Integrated Design,Parsons School of Design</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bekim-ramku-50154314/">Bekim Ramku</a>, OUD+ Architects</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nol-binakaj-7529b158/">Nol Binakaj</a>, OUD+ Architects</p><p>-         Interview with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Gang">Jeanne Gang</a>, amidst a Bio-Blitz powered by the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a> app and featuring a “disco ball for bees”</p><p>-         Unfrozen’s nominations for 2027 Biennale curator:</p><p>o  <a href="https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/people/carolyn-whitzman/">Carolyn Whitzman</a>, Senior Housing Researcher, Schoolof Cities, University of Toronto and author of <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/home-truths">Home Truths: Fixing Canada’s Housing Crisis</a></p><p>o  <a href="https://firstpeoplesgroup.com/staff/diane-longboat/">Diane Longboat</a>, Senior Manager, StrategicInitiatives, Center for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto</p><p>§  See: <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/camh-bolsters-sweat-lodge-for-indigenous-clients-1.3651943">Sweat lodge at the Center</a></p><p>o  <a href="https://www.atelierten.com/team/patrick-bellew/">Patrick Bellew</a>, Chief Sustainability Officer, Surbana Jurong (Atelier Ten)</p><p>§  Gardens by the Bay cooling system,powered by incinerated tree trimming waste</p><p>o  <a href="https://www.peterbarberarchitects.com/personnel">Peter Barber</a>, Peter Barber Architects</p><p>o  <a href="https://forensic-architecture.org/about/team/member/eyal-weizman">Eyal Weizman</a>, Forensic Architecture</p><p>-         Stafford Beer: “The purpose of the system is what it does.”</p>