{"id":84144,"date":"2025-05-08T08:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/84144\/"},"modified":"2025-05-08T08:35:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T08:35:15","slug":"holcim-and-elementals-net-zero-prototype-at-venice-biennale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/84144\/","title":{"rendered":"holcim and ELEMENTAL\u2019s net-zero prototype at venice biennale"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Venice biennale Prototype with Global Implications<\/p>\n

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In a quiet Venetian<\/strong><\/a> courtyard, a concrete structure stands as the result of an experimental collaboration between Holcim<\/strong><\/a> and ELEMENTAL<\/strong><\/a>. At first glance it\u2019s austere, shaped as a blocky sectional module of precast panels. Most important is its material<\/strong><\/a> of biochar<\/strong><\/a> concrete<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and the story it tells. At the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale<\/strong><\/a>, sustainable construction firm Holcim and Chilean architecture studio ELEMENTAL unveil a full-scale prototype that demonstrates a new way of building which resists the choice between climate action and social housing. Instead, it proposes a method to both sequester carbon<\/strong><\/a> and propose answers to urgent housing needs. designboom met with ELEMENTAL founder Alejandro Aravena in Venice to learn more about the collaborative project.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018Whoever comes with solutions and technological developments that lower the carbon footprint of building is welcome,\u2019 Aravena tells designboom in an interview<\/strong><\/a>. This collaboration with Holcim emerged from years of overlapping commitments to climate responsibility and socially-responsive architecture. Aravena, a Pritzker Prize-winner, recalled his team\u2019s first encounter Holcim during post-earthquake reconstruction efforts in Chile. \u2018It was pragmatic: people need places to live, and they\u2019ll build them whether or not governments or markets are ready. This project explores what happens if we meet that inevitability with better tools.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Alejandro Aravena (Founder, ELEMENTAL), Miljan Gutovic (CEO, Holcim) | image \u00a9 designboom<\/p>\n

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elemental notes architecture\u2019s human-centric process<\/p>\n

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The prototype on display at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale is a deceptively modest proposal by Holcim<\/a><\/strong> and ELEMENTAL<\/a><\/strong>. It is a structural sanitation unit that addresses core needs \u2014 water, shelter, and infrastructure \u2014 through an expandable frame. This is \u2018incremental design,\u2019 a method pioneered by ELEMENTAL in which housing is conceived as a process over a finished product. \u2018You have to reframe your role as an architect,\u2019 Aravena explained. \u2018It\u2019s not about control. You start the thing, but then you have to let it go.\u2019 According to Alejandro Aravena, the role of the architect is to provide a sturdy beginning. He recognizes the inevitability of self-construction, especially in the Global South, where most new square-meters are built by individuals, not design studios.<\/p>\n

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\u2018In most developing countries, public housing is also property. It\u2019s the biggest transfer of public money to private families,\u2019 Aravena noted. \u2018If we can help it gain value by being adaptable, expandable, better placed, it becomes more than shelter. It becomes an economic investment for its owners and occupants.\u2019 The structure in Venice reflects decades of this thinking. ELEMENTAL\u2019s earliest incremental homes tripled in value by allowing for self-built expansion.<\/p>\n

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Holcim and ELEMENTAL debut a carbon sink housing prototype at the Venice Biennale | image \u00a9 Celestia Studio<\/a><\/p>\n

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carbon neutrality through holcim\u2019s biochar concrete<\/p>\n

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Aside from the process, the Venice Architecture Biennale display is a celebration of a new material logic by Holcim and ELEMENTAL. At its heart is the construction company\u2019s new carbon sink technology, which introduces into concrete a charcoal-like material called biochar, which is derived from organic matter. Biochar traps carbon permanently, preventing its release into the atmosphere at end of life. According to the team, one kilogram of biochar can prevent up to three kilograms of carbon emissions. What matters is that it performs with no compromise. It\u2019s not weaker, not slower, not more expensive. Applied to cement, mortar, and concrete, this biochar formulation creates what Holcim calls \u2018net-zero concrete,\u2019 here used with 100% recycled aggregates in a closed-loop construction process.<\/p>\n

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Holcim\u2019s biochar concrete sequesters carbon while maintaining full performance | image \u00a9 Celestia Studio<\/p>\n

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\u2018Normally, the world moves by example,\u2019 Aravena tells designboom, describing his optimism for the project\u2019s impact. \u2018When we proposed our first project in 2003, people said it wouldn\u2019t work. Too idealistic. Too expensive. Too slow. So we built it. Then we built it again, in different climates, on flat land, on slopes. The skepticism faded.\u2019 This prototype is similarly direct. It is a built object, not a rendering or a speculative diagram. \u2018You can\u2019t argue with a real thing,\u2019 Aravena continues. \u2018Some people will find excuses, but others, especially policymakers and engineers, will see that there\u2019s no technical reason not to do it.\u2019<\/p>\n

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For both Holcim and ELEMENTAL, the project is not disruption for disruption\u2019s sake, but a response to the realities of the built world. \u2018Forget utopia. What\u2019s pragmatic is that people will keep building,\u2019 Aravena reflects. \u2018So let\u2019s make what they\u2019re building work for them, for the environment, for future generations.\u2019 That vision echoes in the rough concrete shell by the canal. In a year when the Biennale theme circles back to \u2018Time Space Existence,\u2019 this prototype quietly reframes each: time as carbon accounting, space as participatory infrastructure, existence as inhabitation with agency.<\/p>\n

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ELEMENTAL\u2019s incremental housing approach empowers residents | image \u00a9 Celestia Studio<\/p>\n

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the prototype addresses basic needs with a precast core designed for rapid deployment | image \u00a9 Celestia Studio<\/p>\n

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Aravena explains that most housing is self-built and must be treated as part of the solution | image \u00a9 Celestia Studio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Venice biennale Prototype with Global Implications \u00a0 In a quiet Venetian courtyard, a concrete structure stands as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3939],"tags":[40599,40348,4021,4020,31328,10901,29007,4022,77,40600,75,16,15,6175],"class_list":{"0":"post-84144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-alejandro-aravena-elemental","9":"tag-architecture-interviews","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-arts-and-design","12":"tag-biomaterials","13":"tag-carbon-neutrality","14":"tag-concrete-architecture-and-design","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-entertainment","17":"tag-holcim","18":"tag-materials","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-venice-architecture-biennale-2025"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114471300426698483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}