‘Material Perception’ Exhibition @ Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
Cairns are markers on land – across cultures, across time, across languages. They mark pathways, points of arrival, peaks of mountains and hills, places of burial and commemoration, places of ritual. For our exhibition at the 2025 Time Space Existence show – part of the Venice Architecture Biennale – we designed three markers and a wall installation as material artifacts that advance, in more sculptural ways, our ongoing work on material perception. These artifacts offer multiple readings beyond the narrative of being markers – they are also architectural models with prototypical design features we see in contemporary buildings today. Made from porcelain tiles provided by our material sponsor APE Grupo, these objects leverage ambiguous readings depending on the viewer’s expectations and personal history.
Three floor objects and one wall installation are arranged in a small, domestic space of Palazzo Mora in Venice. A project is located on the wall opposite the wall installation. The floor objects are close in scale to a visitor.
A ‘Tor’ is the result of centuries of erosion. ‘Tors’ mark the passage of time, of the incessant work of the natural elements. They mark vertical points in open landscapes.
Cliffside rocks break down into ‘Shards’, break along cleavage points. Over time, moss grows on rock, softening its hardness.
‘Bricole’ mark the edge of navigable waterways, mark pathways through water. They absorb salt from the water and the air, recording the passage of time.
The ‘Circadian Transition’ artifact applies principles from photobiology and neuroscience to create an architectural surface that stimulates the human circadian rhythm. As one moves from the left towards the right side of the artifact, the wall’s spectral composition gradually transitions from blue-enriched (alerting) to blue-depleted (non-alerting) tones. Composed of a dual geometric arrangement of porcelain tiles resembling colored onyx, the installation transforms a static surface into a dynamic experience in which architectural form and function are intrinsically shaped by materiality and the observer’s changing point of view.
Learn more about the ‘Material Perception’ Exhibition
Credits:
Tor, Shard, Bricole: Design Martin Bechthold, Marina Sartori; Technical Drawings and Coordination Juan Pablo Ugarte Urzua
Circadian Transition: Maroula Zacharias
Material and Fabrication Sponsor: APE Grupo
Projection Design: Marina Sartori
Lighting Design: Marina Sartori
Supplementary Funding was provided by the Laboratory for Design Technologies Industry Advisor’s Fund.