PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity – U.S. Pavilion Exhibits

The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, in partnership with DesignConnects and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, invites architects, designers, artists and creatives from across the United States and its territories to submit exhibit design proposals for PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, the U.S. Pavilion exhibition at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. 

PORCH focuses on the representation of the U.S. through the contemporary manifestation of the porch in American architecture – a quintessential constructed place that is at once social and environmental, tectonic and performative, hospitable and intimate, generous and democratic. The U.S. Pavilion’s theme highlights an enduring American architectural typology that persists across scales, geographies, communities, construction methods and histories. PORCH also complements the Biennale Architettura 2025’s theme, Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective., spotlighting architecture’s role in addressing climate change and fostering forward-looking solutions for adaptation and renewal.

Architects, landscape architects, designers, artists, design firms, nonprofits, public agencies and individuals from across the U.S. and its territories are invited to respond to the Open Call. The U.S. Pavilion’s interior exhibition will feature at least 50 participant displays, encouraging proposals from citizens, states and territories nationwide, as well as from design practices of any size or discipline. Eligible entries must have been built or completed after 2000. A separate call for participation, launching in mid-January 2025, will permit unbuilt and speculative projects from students and schools of architecture and design. 

The Open Call for Participation will be conducted in two phases, accepting initial submissions through a dedicated portal (porchusavenice2025.org/open-call) from December 3, 2024, to January 17, 2025. Projects will be evaluated by the PORCH design team leads, working with prominent figures from architectural and design arenas. The announcement of at least 50 exhibitors will be made on February 3, 2025, and selected participants will receive a modest stipend to support the further development of their proposals into a designated format for exhibition. 

PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity will debut publicly on May 10, 2025, at the opening of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition.