The Directorate-General for the Arts (DGartes) opened today's competition to select, from three proposals, the team and the project that will represent Portugal in the Biennial of Architecture of Venice 2027, with a support of 500,000 euros.
© Lusa
17/08/2026
by
Lusa
Dand according to the notice published in Diário da República, it is a “limited competition to select the curatorial and exhibition project that will officially represent Portugal in the 20th International Exhibition of Architecture — La Biennale di Venezia, in 2027”.
The three projects that went to this stage of the contest, announced today by DGArtes, are “Analog Twins”, by Alice Clanet-Hallard, Edgar Brito, Francisco Lobo and Romea Muryn; “Hands to the ground”, by Joanna Alice Helm, Remigio Van Eyes Chilaule and Samuel de Brito Gonçalves; and “Hivel Matter”, by Helena Botelho.
Alice Clanet-Hallard is an architect and Edgar Brito is a civil engineer, both founded Clanet&Brito, an interdisciplinary research and design studio based in Porto, while Francisco Lobo is a Portuguese director and director of photography and Romea Muryn is a Polish architect and researcher, both founders of the Locument, an equally Porto-based research studio.
The authors of the second project are Brazilian architect and urbanist Joanna Alice Helm, who was editor-in-chief and content director of ArchDaily Brazil, with experience in the curation and production of international architectural events; Mozambican architect and urbanist Remígio Van Eyes Chilaule, university professor responsible for the project of the Mafala Museum; and Portuguese architect Samuel de Brito Gonçalves, founder of the Summary studio, Lda., based in Porto.
The proposal “Materia viva” was presented by architect Helena Botelho, director of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of the Lusíada University in Lisbon, and founder of the workshop Helena Botelho Architecture.
The three proposals were chosen to integrate the competition of the official Portuguese representation in the Venice Biennale of 2027 by a working group consisting of Álvaro Domingues, Andreia Garcia, João Gomes da Silva, Mariana Pestana and Tânia Teixeira.
According to DGArtes, the selected proposals stand out for the conceptual quality and expository proposal, for the artistic path of the teams and for the correspondence to the challenge launched by curators Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, under the theme “Do Architecture — For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Reality”.
In this second phase of the competition, the projects should consider the exhibition space, the Fondaco Marcello building and the city of Venice, and enhance the architecture and dialogue with other disciplines and areas of knowledge, the internationalization of Portuguese culture, public mediation, artistic research and experimentation, environmental sustainability and accessibility, adds DGArtes on its website.
The overall amount available is €500,000, with an annual distribution of €300,000 in 2026 and up to €200,000 in 2027, as foreseen by DGArtes' annual statement under the Project Support Programme.
The candidates of the final three proposals are now invited by DGArtes to develop and deepen the projects presented, in a second phase of the procedure that will culminate on October 6, which will follow the choice of the winning proposal, which will officially represent Portugal in Venice.
Under the theme “Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Reality”, the next edition of the biennial will take place between 8 May and 21 November 2027, with the curatorship of architects Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, proposing a reflection on the role of architecture in the face of contemporary challenges and the possibilities of coexistence in a global context marked by social, environmental and urban transformations.
At the 19th Venice Architecture Biennial in 2025, Portugal was represented by the project “Paradise. Today”, authored by architects Paula Melâneo, Pedro Bandeira and Luca Martinucci, and the assistant curators Catarina Raposo and Nuno Cera.
The International Exhibition of Architecture of the Venice Biennale takes place alternately with the International Art Exhibition and is one of the most important world platforms for presentation, debate and reflection on contemporary architecture, bringing together architects, curators, researchers and institutions from dozens of countries.