In an era of increasing physical and digital isolation, SOAK: Rituals of Collective Belonging posits the Icelandic geothermal pool as the ultimate democratic space. The project reimagines architecture not as a static, protective shell, but as a social fluid capable of dissolving the rigid hierarchies of modern life. By mapping the everyday rituals of Icelandic bathing culture, the exhibition explores water as a radical civic infrastructure - a sanctuary for collective renewal and a blueprint for social cohesion in a fragmented world.

Curated by Basalt Architects partner Marcos Zotes, the Icelandic pavilion is created through a multidisciplinary collaboration between Basalt Architects — including Marcos Zotes, Hrólfur Karl Cela and Perla Dís Kristinsdóttir — the design studio Gagarin, represented by Kristín Eva Ólafsdóttir and Nils Wiberg, and artist Rán Flygenring. The exhibition team brings together expertise in architecture, interactive design, and visual storytelling, combining diverse perspectives and disciplines in the realization of the project.

Interdisciplinary team Marcos Zotes, Nils Wiberg, Kristín Eva Ólafsdóttir, Hrólfur Karl Cela, Perla Dís Kristinsdóttir, Rán Flygenring

“In SOAK, the Icelandic Pavilion is framed as a laboratory for the future of the everyday,” said Marcos Zotes, curator of SOAK and partner at Basalt Architects. “By establishing that infrastructure can be both functional and radically social, we seek to shift the architectural conversation from how we build to how we coexist. We invite a new social consciousness, asking: if we can find common ground through shared immersion in a geothermal pool, what is stopping us from finding it in the city at large?”

Iceland and Venice Biennale in Architecture

Venice Biennale of Architecture is one of the most significant global events in the field of architecture. Architecture has been part of the Venice Art Biennale since 1968 but gained its own dedicated platform in 1980. In 2024, for the first time, an open call was issued for proposals for Iceland’s exhibition at the Biennale.

Do Architecture — The Possibility of Coexistence in the Face of Real Reality, is the theme of the 20th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu. It will be held from Saturday, May 8 to Sunday, November 21, 2027.

The Icelandic Ministry of Education and Culture entrusted the Icelandic Design and Architecture Center with the execution of the project. Read more here.

Castello 2125 (Ramo de la Tana), 30122 Venice

The Icelandic Pavilion

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