Living Room Collective at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale – Announcements

The Canada Council for the Arts is delighted to announce that the Living Room Collective will represent Canada at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition, from May 10 to November 23, 2025.

Selected by a selection committee appointed by Council from the group of five pre-selected candidates, the Living Room Collective will organize the next architecture exhibition at the Canada Pavilion. The creative team is led by bio-designer Andrea Shin Ling, alongside core team members Nicholas Hoban, Vincent Hui and Clayton Lee. Together, this group of architects, scientists, artists and educators will work at the intersection of architecture, biology and digital fabrication to situate architecture as an integral and supportive component of our ecosystem.

The Venice Biennale is one of the most prestigious international exhibitions and platforms for architects, artists, designers, critics, politicians, students and cultural leaders from around the world to engage in critical conversations.

Michelle Chawla, Director and CEO of the Canada Council for the Arts, said: “The Canada Council for the Arts is proud to support the Living Room Collective, which has been selected to represent Canada at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale My sincere congratulations to our national and international selection committee for choosing such a timely proposal from this unique group, where design and biology will converge to imagine a better future for our living spaces.

The selection committee is made up of Aziza Chaouni, director of Aziza Chaouni Projects; David Garneau, professor, Department of Visual Arts, University of Regina; Daniel Pearl, director, L’OEUF Architectes; Siamak Hariri, founding partner, Hariri Pontarini Architects; and Sepake Angiama, artistic director of the Institute of International Visual Arts.

The Living Room Collective said: “It is an incredible honor to have been selected to represent Canada at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. In demonstrating the possibilities of a collaborative relationship with nature, we look forward to leverage this global platform alongside national and international partners to engage in critical dialogue around alternative design practices that can support contemporary carbon neutral building strategies.

Salon collective
Andrea Shin Ling is an architect and biodesigner working at the intersection of design, digital fabrication, and biology. His work focuses on how the critical application of biologically and computationally mediated design processes can move society away from exploitative production systems toward regenerative systems. She was previously a 2019 Creative Resident at Ginkgo Bioworks and a researcher at the MIT Media Lab in the Mediated Matter group. Andrea is currently a doctoral student at the Chair Digital Building Technologies at ETH Zurich.

Nicholas Hoban is a computer designer, maker, and educator. He is the Director of Applied Technology in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design and a lecturer in the Daniels Technology Honors Program. Nicholas has been a lead manufacturer and IT designer for two previous Venice Biennales: the 2014 Canadian Pavilion and the 2016 Swiss Pavilion.

Vincent Hui is a professor in the Department of Architectural Sciences at Toronto Metropolitan University and has knowledge in various fields, from design studios to digital tools. It explores the intersections of architecture, manufacturing and related disciplines. In collaboration with renowned organizations such as the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC), the Ontario Association of Architects and the Canadian Association of Architectural Students, Vincent strives to empower the next generation of designers, adapting to emerging changes in practice.

Clayton Lee is a curator, producer and performance artist. He is currently the (Artistic) Director of the Fierce Festival, Birmingham, UK. He was previously the director of the Rhubarb Festival, Canada’s longest running festival of new and experimental performances, at the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Clayton’s performance projects have been presented in venues across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. He was one of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Artists in Residence in 2023.

Learn more about Canada’s representation at the Venice Architecture Biennale.