On the occasion of the 18th Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, the Holy See presented a central theme from Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli tutti: social friendship, with particular reference to art and culture.

The venue was the garden of the Abbey of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice and its halls, where the Holy See’s pavilion project, entitled “Amicizia sociale: incontrarsi nel giardino”, took shape. The long wing of the Abbey’s monastery was adorned with a photographic sequence, curated by Marco Cremascoli, documenting the slow and patient process of constructing the pavilion—a garden conceived as a space for encounter between human beings and nature.

The project was curated by Roberto Cremascoli, whilst the installations were conceived and realised by the architect Álvaro Siza and Studio Albori, comprising the architects Emanuele Almagioni, Giacomo Borella and Francesca Riva. 

The project, conceived as a space open to all, has redefined the monastery’s outdoor areas by integrating architecture, participatory practices and ecology: a lemon house converted into a kiosk, a shaded canopy with seating, a seed store with a pergola and a greenhouse, and other features have been created using reclaimed timber from a house in Cortina. Between the monastery’s halls and the garden, "O Encontro" has been installed: a series of solid wood sculptures representing modular, stylised and slightly robotic human figures, captured in the act of meeting. Overall, the Pavilion aimed to invite visitors to reflect on the importance of caring for the planet and the value of human connection.