In 2025, SCAPE was selected to participate in “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective,” the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia curated by Carlo Ratti. “Cool Forest,” SCAPE’s installation, spotlights Venice’s changing climate and the role of landscape as essential urban infrastructure.
Designed with participating team Marco Scano, Agronomist, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design Department of Landscape Architecture, the forest pavilion spotlights Venice’s changing climate and the role of landscape as essential urban infrastructure. The installation features trees that are adapted to hotter, drier weather—assisting plant migration that is essential in designing resilient landscapes. Embedded sensors track thermal comfort, tree growth, and change within the installation, while an expanded sensor network tracks microclimate conditions across the city of Venice. Lined with coir logs that double as shady comfortable seating, elements of the installation will be planted and redeployed in the city and lagoon after the exhibition closes.
The exhibition is on view from May 10 to November 23, 2025.
Learn more:
Collaborators
SCAPE
Harvard Graduate School of Design Department of Landscape Architecture, Max Piana and Craig Douglas
Marco Scano
