Iceland Design and Architecture revealed details about its exhibition at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. 

Titled Lavaforming, the exhibition will represent Iceland in its national pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition during the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. 

Lavaforming, curated by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir and developed by her team at s.ap architects, showcases a speculative future in which controlled lava flows create cities, and offers tangible experiments to illustrate the vast potential of this renewable resource that has long been regarded as a threat.

Lavaforming. Image © s.ap architects

s.ap architects, which features Arnar Skarphéðinsson as well, an architect and co-creator of Lavaforming; Björg Skarphéðinsdóttir, design specialist; and architect Sukanya Mukherjee has performed pioneering tests on materials to manipulate lava within a laboratory environment, which involves processes like re-melting it and casting it in molds. 

Lavaforming. Image © s.ap architects

The results yield smooth, glass-like black bricks and columns—robust foundational elements for renewable infrastructure that pave the way for sustainable architecture in volcanically active areas like Iceland. 

Pálmadóttir was awarded the renowned Nordic Council Environment Prize in 2024 due to her emphasis on environmentally aware architectural practices.

s.ap arkitektar, 2025. Image © Sonja Margret Olafsdottir

New tests, to be showcased in the Pavilion, have investigated the properties of lava as it cools under controlled conditions. The latest investigation focuses on the potential of basalt as a mono-material in construction and the possibility of creating entire structures solely from basalt lava. 

The experimental outcomes yielded by the team indicate a promising way ahead regarding what conditions are required to melt basalt and create material of sufficient strength to be utilized as a building material. The Lavaforming project poses the question: what would natural architecture on Earth be like if it were free from harmful mining and non-renewable energy extraction?.

Lavaforming. Image © s.ap architects

"As nations across the globe adapt to changing weather patterns in a warming world, it is essential that we involve architects, artists, and designers in conversations about solutions," said Iceland’s Minister of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, Logi Einarsson. 

"Projects like Lavaforming allow us to explore groundbreaking ideas for designing with, rather than against, nature, which have enormous potential to be scaled and adopted widely. This project is an excellent example of the forward-thinking solutions being piloted by Iceland’s creative community to address the challenges of our time," Einarsson added.

Lavaforming movie sketch. Image © s.ap architects

In collaboration with s.ap architects, a multidisciplinary team—including writer Andri Snaer Magnason and musician/designer/technologist Jack Armitage—produces a short animated speculative film envisioning a city infrastructure built entirely from shaped lava. 

The film will showcase the viewpoints of six characters considering the world-altering advantages of this groundbreaking construction technology, which has revolutionized building methods and reshaped our climate change concerns. 

"Lava presents an enormous opportunity as a sustainable building material,” said Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, curator, architect, founder, and creative director of Lavaforming. 

"Our experiments demonstrate how we could one day create structures, and even entire cities, with lava. In our short film, we take the next step, imagining the year 2150 and a city made of lava. The project probes questions such as, ‘What does that city look like? How has this building material transformed human’s relationship to nature and the built environment? How has the paradigm for building shifted?," Pálmadóttir continued. 

Geldingadalir 2021. Image © Thrainn Kolbeinsson

"Lavaforming is an exploration of materiality and ownership," said Arnar Skarphéðinsson, co-creator of Lavaforming. "We believe that the architecture profession today serves financial interest above all, and this limits its ability to positively affect society."

"People cannot afford a home and are simultaneously uninspired by their urban surroundings; problems that are not due to a lack of creativity from architects, but rather the system and norms under which they operate." 

"The goal of this project is to offer a positive vision for our future that is unhampered by our current system. Lavaforming immerses visitors in our future vision where a local threat is transformed into a resource that addresses a global emergency," Skarphéðinsson added.

Geldingadalir 2021. Image © Thrainn Kolbeinsson

Iceland is participating for the first time in the International Architecture Exhibition of Venice Architecture Biennale with an open call. 

The Icelandic Pavilion is commissioned by Iceland Design and Architecture, which supports and promotes various forms of design as an essential element of the future Icelandic society, economy, and culture, with backing from the Ministry of Culture and Business Affairs in Iceland.

Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland July 2023. Image © Thrainn Kolbeinsson

Litli-Hrútur eruption in Iceland July 2023. Image © Thrainn Kolbeinsson

The Icelandic architect studio sap arkitektar is an interdisciplinary research studio with emphasis on speculative projects. Previously, Arnhildur Palmadottir proposed to create a new building material from molten lava to build an entire city in a few weeks, which aims to remove the carbon footprint on earth since "the eruption had already taken place" on an area.

The 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale will take place from May 10 to November 23 November 2025 at the Giardini, the Arsenale and various venues in Venice, Italy. 

Besides Iceland's contribution, other contributions at the Venice Architecture Biennale include Estonia's Let Me Warm You exhibition, the Romanian Pavilion's "Human Scale" exhibition, the Luxembourg Pavilion's Sonic Investigations exhibition, the Albanian Pavilion's "Building Architecture Culture" exhibition, the Turkey Pavilion's "Grounded" exhibition, the Pavilion of the United Arab Emirates's "Pressure Cooker" exhibition, the Finland Pavilion's "The Pavilion – Architecture of Stewardship" exhibition. 

Find out all exhibition news on WAC's Venice Architecture Biennale page. 

Exhibition facts

Exhibition title: Lavaforming

Commissioner: Halla Helgadóttir, Iceland Design and Architecture.

Curator: Arnhildur Pálmadóttir

Exhibitor: s.ap architects: Arnhildur Pálmadóttir, Arnar Skarphéðinsson, Björg Skarphéðinsdóttir, Sukanya Mukherjee, Andri Snær Magnason, Jack Armitage

Venue: 2125 Ramo de la Tana, Venice (Near the main entrance of the Arsenale)

The top image in the article: Lavaforming. Image © s.ap architects. 

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