Asymptote co-curated the 9th Venice Architecture Biennale with director Kurt W. Forster, designing the entire 7,635 m² Arsenale exhibition showcasing over 150 architects, as well as the Giardini pavilions, wayfinding, catalogs, and the complete graphic identity for Metamorph.
Asymptote was invited by Biennale director Kurt W. Forster to co-curate and design the 9th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice — Metamorph — which ran from September 12 to November 7, 2004. The commission encompassed the entirety of the exhibition’s physical and visual presence: the 7,635 m² Arsenale installation showcasing the work of over 150 architects, the Giardini pavilion interventions, all wayfinding and signage, the exhibition catalogs, and the complete graphic identity for the Biennale. It was one of the most comprehensive exhibition design commissions ever undertaken by an architecture practice.
The Arsenale
The Corderie dell’Arsenale — Venice’s historic 16th-century rope factory — was transformed through a modulating spatial sequence developed by producing a morphing animation involving the actions of torquing and stringing the entire 300-meter space. The resulting design elements functioned simultaneously as walls, display surfaces, and platforms — sweeping white forms that wove between the Arsenale’s massive brick columns and stone piers, creating a continuous landscape for the presentation of architectural models, drawings, renderings, and multimedia.
Works by the invited architects were positioned along trajectories rather than in static bays, creating what Asymptote described as a terrain of tendencies and formations. The experience integrated architecture, installation, multimedia, graphic design, and exhibition design into a spatially unified environment that celebrated ideas, scale, form, and meaning — rather than treating the exhibition as a neutral backdrop for isolated displays.
Giardini and Graphic Identity
Beyond the Arsenale, Asymptote designed bold red gateway pavilions for the Giardini — angular volumes clad in the Metamorph graphic identity with gold typography — that marked the entrance to the Biennale grounds and established the exhibition’s visual presence among the trees and national pavilions. The graphic identity extended across all Biennale communications: catalogs, posters, signage, wayfinding systems, and printed materials, creating a coherent visual language that unified the sprawling exhibition across its multiple Venice venues.
A Historic Commission
The scope of Asymptote’s involvement in Metamorph was historically significant — few architecture practices have been entrusted with both the curatorial and design dimensions of a major international biennale. Working alongside Kurt W. Forster, Asymptote shaped not only the physical environment in which architecture was displayed but the conceptual framework through which visitors encountered it, dissolving the traditional boundaries between exhibition design and architectural practice.
Credits
Principals: Hani Rashid, Lise Anne Couture. Project Director: Jill Leckner. Design Team: Noboru Ota, Jill Leckner, Christoph Ziegler, Eric Goldemberg, Asako Hiraoka Sperry, Clarissa Lenz, Ana Baltschun, Claudia Cipriani, Tobias Koch, Stella Lee, Simon Nageli, Dominik Sigg, Cara Solomon, Charlotte Schmidt-Jensen, Stephanie Wong, Isabelle Rijnties. Consultants: Omnivore New York (Graphic Design), ARUP Lighting Netherlands, Marciano Rizzo (Lighting).
