Morocco’s pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, running from May 10 to November 23, 2025, has emerged as a standout showcase of sustainable innovation and cultural heritage. Titled Materiae Palimpsest, the pavilion, curated by Moroccan architects Khalil Morad El Ghilali and El Mehdi Belyasmine, presents a compelling exploration of earth-based construction techniques, blending ancestral knowledge with cutting-edge technology to address contemporary environmental and social challenges. Commissioned by Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication, in collaboration with the Ministry of National Territory Planning, Urban Planning, Housing, and City Policy, the project redefines the concept of collective intelligence in architecture while celebrating the resilience and beauty of Morocco’s vernacular traditions.
A Response to Crisis and a Vision for the Future
The Materiae Palimpsest pavilion was born out of a profound reflection on Morocco’s architectural heritage, particularly in the wake of the devastating 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the Al Haouzწ
The Materiae Palimpsest pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale is a testament to Morocco’s innovative approach to sustainable architecture, blending ancestral knowledge with modern technology to create a vision for a resilient, environmentally conscious future. Curated by architects Khalil Morad El Ghilali and El Mehdi Belyasmine, the pavilion showcases the enduring potential of earth-based construction techniques, such as rammed earth, adobe, cob, stone, and brick, which have defined Moroccan building practices for centuries. The project responds to the 2023 Al Haouz earthquake, emphasizing earthquake-resistant designs and sustainable materials, while celebrating the cultural and ecological significance of Morocco’s vernacular architecture. Below is a detailed exploration of the pavilion’s highlights, drawn from available information and additional research.
A Multisensory Journey Through Earth Architecture
Located at the Arsenale, one of the Biennale’s main venues, the Moroccan pavilion offers an immersive experience that invites visitors to engage with the tactile, visual, and cultural dimensions of earth architecture. At its core are 72 pillars, each constructed from prefabricated blocks of various earthen materials—rammed earth, adobe, cob, stone, and brick—held together by an innovative post-tensioning system developed by El Ghilali’s Atelier BE. This system, which squeezes the blocks together, has proven its resilience in Moroccan villages, where buildings using this method withstood the 2023 earthquake, the strongest in the country’s history. El Ghilali emphasizes the potential for multi-story constructions using these techniques, provided they are built on stone foundations to protect against floods and seismic activity. “We can build quick, and instead of just doing a building and then covering it with a fake texture, we can actually build with authenticity,” he told Dezeen.
The pavilion’s design goes beyond structural innovation. A central agora features a holographic display of artisans at work, their ghostly figures preserving the human element of traditional craftsmanship while highlighting the role of digital technologies in archiving and evolving these practices. Suspended above are 900 hand tools—picks, shovels, and wooden formworks—arranged to illustrate the journey of natural materials from extraction to construction. This installation, bathed in blue light, underscores the importance of artisanship and the risk of losing ancestral knowledge in the face of modern construction trends dominated by concrete.
The pavilion’s facade, crafted by acclaimed Moroccan artist and architect Soumiya Jalal, introduces a delicate yet powerful element: nomadic textiles. These hangings, made from cotton, linen, and mineral fibers like copper, gold, and silver, evoke the fluidity and adaptability of Morocco’s traditional nomadic architecture. Jalal’s work challenges the notion that earth architecture is solely about solid structures, highlighting the role of softer, vegetal materials in creating functional and aesthetic spaces. “It was also really important for us to show that it is not always men creating architecture, but also women, whose generational know-how endures,” El Ghilali noted, emphasizing gender equity in the craft.
A Response to Crisis and a Call for Sustainability
The Materiae Palimpsest project was inspired by the catastrophic earthquakes that struck Morocco’s Al Haouz region in September 2023, which damaged many remote mountain villages rich in earthen architecture. The disaster prompted El Ghilali and Belyasmine to explore how traditional materials and techniques could be modernized to create durable, sustainable, and culturally rooted structures. The pavilion showcases a variety of materials sourced from Morocco’s diverse geography—coastal stones, desert adobe, and recycled brick and concrete waste—demonstrating their potential for economic and efficient construction. The entire installation was assembled in just three days, proving the practicality and accessibility of these methods.
El Ghilali, founder of Atelier BE, and Belyasmine, founder of Belyas.Co, aim to challenge the global dominance of concrete, which they view as a homogenizing force that erases regional character. “The idea that research is turning its back to different materialities and just focusing on one material – that is, concrete – is, for us, one of the biggest losses that we’ve lived through in the 20th century,” El Ghilali told Dezeen. The pavilion advocates for a return to “natural intelligence,” aligning with the Biennale’s theme, Intelligens: Natural, Artificial, Collective, curated by Carlo Ratti. It emphasizes bottom-up, community-driven construction, where architects work hands-on with artisans to preserve and innovate traditional practices.
Cultural and Environmental Significance
The pavilion serves as a living archive of Morocco’s architectural heritage, reflecting the country’s unique geography—spanning two seas, mountains, and deserts—and its cultural diversity. The use of local, renewable materials like earth and stone minimizes environmental impact and embodies the principles of a circular economy, where materials can be perpetually reused with minimal waste. The pavilion’s sensory design, with its earthy colors, textures, and smells, immerses visitors in Morocco’s material culture, while digital projections and holograms bridge the gap between past and future.
Morocco’s government has actively supported this initiative, with the pavilion backed by a budget of 10 million dirhams and a national competition organized by the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Communication and the Ministry of National Territory Planning, Urban Planning, Housing, and City Policy. The project was selected from ten finalists by a prestigious jury led by Mehdi Qotbi, president of the National Foundation of Museums, highlighting its national significance. Morocco, alongside other Arab countries, has also proposed adding earthen building traditions to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, reinforcing the global relevance of these practices.
A Global Dialogue on Sustainable Architecture
The Moroccan pavilion is part of a broader movement at the 2025 Biennale, with pavilions from Mexico and Turkey also exploring soil-based construction, signaling a growing global consciousness about sustainable building practices. El Ghilali sees this as a return to “common sense” in architecture, prioritizing natural intelligence over artificial solutions. “We really think that intelligence comes from architects, not from a top-down way, but from a bottom-up, where you just build with people,” he said.
The pavilion’s emphasis on collective intelligence resonates with the Biennale’s theme, fostering a dialogue between local artisans and modern architects. The inclusion of 2,400 suspended tools and a sound installation further immerses visitors in Morocco’s intangible heritage, encouraging reflection on the future of sustainable construction. A forthcoming catalogue, edited by El Ghilali and Belyasmine, will feature contributions from experts and artists, including Soumiya Jalal, Alia Bengana, and Rabia Charef, serving as a manifesto for earth architecture’s role in addressing climate change and housing challenges.
The Architects Behind the Vision
Khalil Morad El Ghilali, a teacher at the National School of Architecture in Marrakech and a doctoral candidate at the University of Thessaly, Greece, founded Atelier BE in 2019 to explore the intersections of architecture, climate, ecology, and technology. El Mehdi Belyasmine, trained at ETH Zurich and ULB La Cambre Horta, brings international experience from projects across Africa, America, and the Middle East through his studio, Belyas.Co. Their complementary approaches—El Ghilali’s focus on ecological research and Belyasmine’s expertise in digital design—create a dynamic synergy that elevates Materiae Palimpsest as a holistic vision of Morocco’s architectural future.
A Beacon of Hope and Innovation
The Materiae Palimpsest pavilion is more than an exhibition; it is a call to action for architects, policymakers, and communities worldwide to rethink sustainability through local, low-impact materials and collective knowledge. By showcasing the resilience of earthquake-resistant earthen structures, the ingenuity of nomadic textiles, and the enduring wisdom of artisans, Morocco’s pavilion challenges the architectural status quo and offers a model for a more equitable, environmentally conscious future. As El Ghilali aptly stated, “The future, ultimately, can be found right next to us.”
The Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, with Materiae Palimpsest as one of its highlights, runs until November 23, 2025, at the Arsenale and Giardini venues. For more information, visit labiennale.org.
Photography by Samuele Cherubini
