Biennale Architettura 2025
GENS Public Programme
The Sustainable Lightness of Space
Workshop developed and moderated by Valentina Sumini and Massimo Sideri
The Sustainable Lightness of Space is an immersive, multidisciplinary workshop, part of GENS Public Programme of the Biennale Architettura 2025 curated by Carlo Ratti exploring what space reveals about sustaining life on Earth. Through science, art, architecture, aerospace, robotics, virtual reality and philosophy, it reimagines space missions as profound experiments in resilience and resourcefulness, offering visionary perspectives on our planet’s fragile future, refracted through the luminous lens of lunar and Martian horizons. Visitors will be able to experience a VR training inside the Argonaut Habitat Unit designed for Design as an Astronaut project participating in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia.
Abstract
In 1890, the renowned astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli published Life on Mars. A series of his observations of the so-called “canals” on the Red Planet had sparked an international debate about the possible existence of alien life on Mars. Even today, the word “Martian” remains in our language as a legacy of those early explorations.
How was such a misunderstanding possible? Observational instruments were still flawed. Mars was unimaginably distant—even for the imagination. But most of all, the Suez Canal had just been inaugurated in Egypt, the greatest engineering feat ever attempted by humankind at the time: it was only natural, then, that the “canals” on Mars would evoke the idea of civilization. It was an illusion, certainly. And yet, the idea of using space to understand Earth—and vice versa—remains one of the most compelling reasons behind our journey beyond the atmosphere. It explains why we’re not only planning to return to the Moon, but also to travel to Mars. Not just with rovers.
This is the premise of The Sustainable Lightness of Space, a multidisciplinary workshop, part of GENS Public Programme of the Biennale Architettura 2025 curated by Carlo Ratti, designed to explore and communicate what we can learn about sustainability on Earth by exploring space. The workshop unfolds as an immersive experience blending science, art, and philosophy, with the goal of offering new visions for the future of life on Earth—seen through the lens of space missions.
The event stems from a fundamental reflection: space missions are not simply technological explorations or symbolic conquests, but extreme experiments in sustainability. Every space mission must face the challenge of operating in hostile environments with extremely limited resources. In orbit or on other planets, there is no "elsewhere" from which to import water, air, or energy. Every element must be managed, recycled, and optimized. From these constraints emerges a school of thought and practice that has much to teach us in tackling Earth’s ecological crises.
___________________________
When: October 12, 2025
Time: 2pm-5pm CET
Where: Biennale Architettura 2025, Speakers’ Corner, Corderie dell’Arsenale (Venice)
To access the Corderie dell’Arsenale and the Speakers’ Corner, visitors must hold a valid exhibition ticket for the Biennale Architettura 2025.
_________________________
Event Program
Opening Remarks
- Massimo Sideri - Columnist at Corriere della Sera and Adjunct Professor at LUISS
- Valentina Sumini - Space Architect & Research Affiliate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Media Lab and Visiting Professor at Politecnico di Torino - DISEG
Astronaut Luca Parmitano’s Perspective
A personal and inspirational keynote that opens the day, sharing the deeper motivations and daily challenges of space exploration from a human point of view:
- Luca Parmitano – Astronaut at European Space Agency
Scientific Roundtable on “Why we explore”
- Delfina Bertolotto - Senior Technologist Executive at Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)
- Sara Lucatello – President at European Astronomical Society
- Anilkumar Dave – Space Economy and Open Innovation Lead at DARWIX
Space Architecture Panel
A panel addressing the challenges of architecture in space and its connection with human life and robotics beyond Earth.
- Barbara Negri – Deputy Director of Science and Innovation at Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)
- Franco Fenoglio – Director of Human & Robotic Planetary Exploration Programs’ Unit at Thales Alenia Space
- Valentina Sumini – Space Architect & Research Affiliate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Media Lab and Visiting Professor at Politecnico di Torino - DISEG
- Tommy Nilsson – Research Scientist at Fraunhofer FIT and European Space Agency (ESA-EAC)
Break
VR Experience
Participants will have the opportunity to experience first-hand the immersive technologies used for astronaut training inside the Argonaut Habitat Unit, part of Design as an Astronaut project participating in the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.
Multidisciplinary Roundtable on the Earthly Returns of Space Exploration
A dialogue between science, technology, industry, and art to explore how innovations developed for space translate into value on Earth.
- Amedeo Manuello Bertetto – Professor at Politecnico di Torino - DISEG
- Roberto Naboni – Professor at University of Southern Denmark
- Daniele Pucci – Researcher & PI at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
- Marco Nereo Rotelli – Artist
- Enrico Schiesaro – Commercial Manager at Neptune
- Roberto Battiston - Professor at Università di Trento (Former President of ASI)