Venice Biennale 2025: Hong Kong Architecture Exhibition

Overview

Background

The Hong Kong Exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 explored the theme "Legacy for the Future – Inheriting the Future", responding to chief curator Carlo Ratti's overarching theme "Intelligence. Natural. Artificial. Collective."

The exhibition focused on often-overlooked public architecture and urban infrastructure in Hong Kong, addressing issues such as climate adaptation, population density, public space quality and the intersection of culture and daily life. The curatorial team – Au Kuai, Chow Wing and Lau Sing Yeung – presented case studies of local buildings including shopping malls, public housing estates and mixed-use complexes, showcasing Hong Kong's "collective intelligence" in creating resilient, adaptive public architecture under challenging urban conditions.

Objectives

• •Generate significant media coverage for Hong Kong's participation in a prestigious international architecture event
• •Position Hong Kong as a thought leader in sustainable, high-density urban design
• •Engage architecture, design, culture and general news media locally and regionally
• •Support the opening event in Venice and sustain media interest throughout the Biennale period

Strategy & Approach

Radiance crafted a two-phase PR strategy spanning the exhibition's opening in Venice and its extended run through November. We positioned the exhibition not simply as a display of buildings, but as a forward-looking exploration of how Hong Kong's unique constraints have driven innovative, human-centred design solutions that hold lessons for cities worldwide.

Our media narrative emphasised the relevance of the exhibition's themes to Hong Kong's current urban challenges, making it accessible to general news audiences while maintaining depth for specialist architecture and design media. We coordinated closely with the curatorial team to facilitate interviews and provide rich storytelling materials.

Key Activities

• ✓Two-phase PR strategy spanning launch, opening and sustained promotion
• ✓Press release compilation and distribution in Traditional Chinese and English
• ✓Opening event management and media coordination in Venice
• ✓Targeted media relations and interview facilitation with curators
• ✓Comprehensive media monitoring throughout the Biennale period

Results

The exhibition successfully elevated Hong Kong's profile in international architecture discourse. Coverage highlighted both the quality of the curatorial work and the relevance of Hong Kong's urban design lessons to global audiences, positioning the city as a leader in innovative, human-centred urban solutions.