A poetic pause at the Venice Biennale

At the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale, Argentina invites the world to slow down and dream. From May 10 to November 23, 2025, the Argentine Pavilion will showcase Siestario, a poetic and immersive installation by architects Juan Manuel Pachué and Marco Zampieron, with Brian Ejsmont as collaborator.

Curated by Carlo Ratti under the theme “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective,” this year’s Biennale explores architecture’s intersections with disciplines like biology, data science, and the social sciences. Within this context, Siestario stands out as a meditation on time, rest, and collective experience.

The installation invites visitors to pause their journey and embrace the Argentine tradition of the siesta, not just as a nap, but as a metaphor for reflection, connection, and a remnant of their economy, suspended in time. 

At the heart of Siestario is a striking visual: an inflated silo bag, typically used in Argentina’s agriculture, now transformed into a surreal resting space. This soft, plastic form stretches across the room like a dreamscape, part mattress, part memory.

Visitors are encouraged to lie down, sink into the silence, and drift into a state where desires float, images blur, and the boundaries between reality and imagination dissolve. The installation becomes a landscape of the possible and the uncertain, where architecture supports both the mind and the body.

Pachué and Zampieron, both graduates of the National University of Rosario and co-founders of Cooperativa, a space dedicated to architectural competitions, currently teach and practice in Rosario, Argentina. Their winning proposal emerged from an open competition organized by the Argentine Foreign Ministry’s Directorate of Cultural Affairs, CEDU, and AAICI.

The jury included notable architects such as Bárbara Berson (FADEA), Daniela Bergaizen (AAICI), and Gerardo Caballero, Marcelo Faiden, and Mariano Clusellas (CEDU), who selected Siestario for its poetic strength and conceptual depth.

More than just a resting spot, Siestario is a curated experience. Diffuse images, abstract drawings, and photographs are scattered throughout the space in seemingly random order, evoking a dreamlike atmosphere of somnolence and shared introspection.

In the midst of the Biennale’s dynamic energy, Argentina’s pavilion offers a gentle interruption, a place to breathe, reflect, and reconnect with the rhythm of rest.

Source: La Biennale and Arch Daily
Image credit: Brian Ejsmont