La Biennale di Venezia is one of the oldest and most prestigious art festivals which has been held since 1895. Every one of these Biennales has been a stage for many architects, designers and varied artists to showcase their talent and work. This year, the 18th edition of the International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale, themed ‘The Laboratory of the Future’, is to be curated by Architect Lesley Lokko, founder of the Graduate School of Architecture (GSA) at the University of Johannesburg. 

Although centered at various locations in Venice, the Exhibition aims to feature crucial topics like ‘decolonisation and decarbonisation’ and other major aspects that make and break Africa, which Lesley Lokko names as the laboratory of the future.

Initiated in 2015, Concentrico is the International Festival of Architecture and Design held in Logrono, Spain. It has been able to host around 100 installations in the city that act as urban interventions which act as connectors between the built and the unbuilt. This is done by inviting artists and designers to partake in a competition, the winners of which become the creators of the urban intervention of the next Concentrico. 

The Festival receives tremendous involvement internationally which makes it a field of diverse and progressive ideas. These ideas are communicated to the general public by means of the installations which put the citizens more in touch with their locality and with 'Art & Architecture’ itself.

The Milan Design Week is the largest design event which is a stunning agglomeration of a variety of arts. It features multiple fairs with product releases, artistic installations and events in the scenic city of Milan, which in itself is an architect’s paradise. The biggest event of the Design Week is the ‘Salone del Mobile’, a furniture fair which promotes the latest designs internationally and is attended by loads of learners, enthusiasts, collectors and commoners. 

‘Euroluce’ is another awaited event dedicated to ‘lighting design’ by the best in the field. The entire week is a platform not just for the generation and exchange of ideas but also for the celebration of culture and tradition. 

The Seoul Biennale is a comparatively younger event featuring exhibitions, conferences, lectures, forums and interactive programs about the betterment of architecture to prepare for the future. The Biennale is themed ‘Drawing of Seoul’s Next 100 Years’ and will host the masterplan for the city’s urban future. This will have been done after the analysis and judgment passed on an open competition held for the same in 2022. The theme and setup are a promising one which will draw attention from the residents and international experts alike.

Themed ‘The Beauty of Impermanence’, the Sharjah Architectural Triennial is going to be the second edition of this event. It is the largest event of its kind in the Middle East and the Global South entirely. The theme is in response to a culture of allied practices like ‘reusing’ and ‘collaboration’ that have come about in the South due to a visible scarcity in resources. 

The Triennial aims to address and promote architectural practices and traditional methods, the involvement of climate and other allied subjects that have contributed to sustainability and development in the region.

The Modernism Week hosts an annual design festival of 11 days to celebrate modern art, architecture and culture. The week is filled with activities like tours of iconic houses, architectural walks, tours and talks all in the famous neighborhoods of Palm Springs. The festival offers over 350 programs about design, art, fashion and interiors. The talks also include interesting topics like set design and architecture in films and the reviewing of famous households.

On its 10-year anniversary, the Copenhagen Architectural Festival will be another series of exhibitions and interactive events that are inspired from the United Nations’ agenda of Sustainable Futures. The festival is also an attempt to bring people together and to create awareness about the need for a sustainable lifestyle and how it is achievable by the many micro-capacities of architecture. It is also a platform for young talent to come forward with ideas for a ‘European Green Deal’ and to collaborate on them to make for a harmonious environment for humans and all the other entities in that environment.

The second edition of the Lima International Architectural Biennial or BIALIMA is a celebration of the growth in South American architecture. Its predecessor, the first edition in 2021 was a significant milestone in establishing Peruvian Architecture into the Latin-American architectural stream. This BIALIMA, curated by the cofounders of 51-1 Arquitectos, will perhaps be another milestone that will globally acknowledge and accelerate Peruvian Architecture.

Held at the famous Chicago Cultural Centre, the fifth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial is an international platform for the development of out-of-the-box ideas and architectural collaboration. This year, it features an art collective named ‘The Floating Museum’. This Biennial is an intellectual summit for conferences, experiments and informative research reviews that bring forth innovative concepts in architecture and strive to optimize existing ones that are successful.

It is both laudable and reassuring to know that the themes for many major architectural events are based on sustainability and on promoting positive building behavior. This year packs many large scale events that seem to have very promising itineraries and scopes of outdoing their predecessors. The ongoing and everlasting number of editions to these festivals are proof that there is literally no end to art and innovation.

So which festival has caught your attention the most and which ones are you visiting this year?

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