The Australian Institute of Architects has announced “Lived In” as Australia’s official contribution to the 20th Venice Architecture Biennale, to be held in Venice, Italy, from May 8 to November 21, 2027. Developed by Kerstin Thompson, Maryam Gusheh, Lee-Anne Khor, and Louise Wright of Monash Urban Lab at Monash University, the exhibition is based on the ongoing Housing Atlas of Australia research initiative. Presented in response to the Biennale’s theme, Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality, curated by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu, the exhibition will present a selection of Australian multi-dwelling housing projects through drawings, photographs, film, and data.
At the core of the exhibition is the Housing Atlas of Australia, a national research and teaching initiative established by Kerstin Thompson and developed collaboratively through Monash Urban Lab. The project has brought together educators, practitioners, and students from universities across Australia to document significant examples of multi-residential architecture spanning more than one hundred years. Participating institutions include Bond University, Adelaide University, Monash University, RMIT University, the University of Canberra, the University of Queensland, the University of Tasmania, the University of Western Australia, UNSW, and Western Sydney University, with additional contributors expected to join during the 2026–2027 research period.
역사의 흐름 속에서 호주의 도시화는 다주거 건축의 축을 따라 형성되어 왔습니다. 호주가 흔히 교외적 정체성과 연관되곤 하지만, 전시는 많은 호주인들이 아파트에 거주한다는 점을 주목하며 Housing Atlas of Australia를 통해 문서화된 다주거 주택의 사례들을 한 자리에 모아 보여줍니다. 도면, 데이터, 사진, 영화 등을 통해 제시될 이 전시는 대표적인 프로젝트와 덜 알려진 프로젝트를 함께 다루며 맥락, 기후, 문화에 대한 각기의 반응을 포착하는 한편, 주거가 일상 생활을 어떻게 형성하고 또 일상으로부터 어떻게 형성되는지 탐구합니다.
The Australian Institute of Architects selected the exhibition following a national call for research-led proposals from Australian schools of architecture. Twenty-one submissions representing eleven institutions were reviewed by a selection panel comprising Adam Haddow, Senlina Mayer, Candice Halliday, Cameron Bruhn, and Michelle Newton. Commenting on the selection, the Institute’s 2025–2026 National President, Adam Haddow, said Australia is facing “urgent questions about housing, density, affordability, climate and the future of our cities,” adding that architecture has a critical role in these discussions “not only through design, but through the lessons embedded in the housing we already have.” Chris Brisbin, President of the Association of Architecture Schools of Australasia (AASA), noted that involving Australia’s schools of architecture in the selection process expands the Biennale’s capacity to engage practitioners, academics, and students while creating longer-term impact beyond the exhibition itself.
Lived In will be presented at the Australian Pavilion as part of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, before traveling to Australia in 2028 through a partnership between the Australian Institute of Architects and Museums of History NSW. The announcement follows Australia’s participation in the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale with HOME, curated by Kate Goodwin and Philip Goad, which examined the evolving nature of the Australian home through a full-scale installation exploring domestic space and adaptability. Other recent announcements for national contributions to the 2027 Biennale include Iceland’s SOAK: Rituals of Collective Belonging, which explores bathing culture through architecture and social interaction, and Switzerland’s pavilion curated by Paola Viganò, which examines water as an ecological and territorial condition.
