The Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Tech) is showcasing a pioneering project at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, one of the world’s most prestigious forums for architectural innovation. The project, titled “Tech-Community Driven Living Labs: Fostering Care Ecologies,” is part of the main exhibition and is the only university-led initiative from Latin America featured this year. The Venice Architecture Biennale, held every two years, has brought together more than 760 individuals and teams to explore the future of the built environment.
The 2025 edition, curated by Italian-born architect, engineer, and MIT professor Carlo Ratti, revolves around the theme “Intelligens: Natural. Artificial. Collective.” The event serves as a dynamic laboratory, uniting experts from diverse fields to address pressing global challenges such as climate change and social resilience. Monterrey Tech’s project stands out for its applied research and community-driven approach. The initiative established living laboratories in three Mexican regions: Julimes, Chihuahua; La Primavera Forest in Jalisco; and the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in Querétaro.
In Julimes, a rural municipality of about 5,000 on the Conchos River, arsenic and fluoride water filters and solar-powered greenhouses with drone monitoring were co-developed with local residents to address health risks.
Monterrey Tech’s living lab initiative
In Jalisco, a portion of the Las Tortugas River was invigorated by using small, nature-based interventions that combine sanitation strategies, environmental education, and regenerative ecotourism.
In Querétaro, the focus was on responsible tourism and forest management models in the biosphere reserve. “Our labs integrate collective, natural, and artificial intelligence to generate replicable solutions,” said Emanuele Giorgi, a project lead. Alfredo Hidalgo, national dean of Monterrey Tech’s School of Architecture, Art, and Design, added, “Our participation is aimed at showing how architecture, from a university perspective, can be a critical tool for exploring new ways of living in the face of climate and social challenges.”
Monterrey Tech’s project involved some 280 students and collaborators, though only five are listed on the official entry: Giorgi, Hidalgo, Carlos Cobreros, Maria Elena de la Torre Escoto, and Maximillian Nowotka.
The biennale’s top honor, the Golden Lion, this year went to Bahrain for its innovative “Heatwave” installation, which offers climate-responsive cooling for public spaces. In all, there are 65 national pavilions being showcased at three locations in Venice. The exhibition will continue highlighting architecture’s vital role in addressing global environmental and social issues through Nov.
23.
