This week we unveiled Venice Architecture Biennale pavilions

This week on Dezeen, we revealed the pavilions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, including Finland’s pavilion that declared the “death of the flushing toilet” and Brazil’s earth-filled pavilion.

Other pavilions that were first revealed on Dezeen included the Korean pavilion which lets visitors explore a “climate endgame”, the British pavilion, which encapsulates Britain’s “incredible diversity” and the Australian Pavilion which “questions the relics of the British Empire”.

Architect Lesley Lokko — Africa a “powerful place from which to examine the issues that will dominate the next century” says Venice curator Lesley Lokko

We also spoke to Venice Architecture Biennale curator Lesley Lokko in an exclusive interview and covered her criticism of the Italian authorities’ decision to deny visas to three members of her Ghana-based team.

The Dezeen team is in Italy and has been liveblogging all the most interesting events from the 18th international architecture biennale in Venice.

Norman Foster portrait — “Architecture without architects” can teach valuable lessons says Norman Foster

Also in Venice, Dezeen’s architecture editor Lizzie Crook spoke to architect Norman Foster in an exclusive interview, in which he said that the simplest of structures, such as tents and huts, can teach architects lessons.

Foster was in Venice to unveil his concrete emergency housing project Essential Homes, which he created with buildings materials company Holcim to provide rapidly assembled housing for people displaced by natural and manmade disasters.

Samuel Ross Furniture — Twelve things to do and see during New York’s 2023 design week

In design news, this week New York’s design week is taking place in venues and showrooms across New York City. We rounded up 12 must-see shows, talks and installations put on by organisations and brands including NASA, Muji and the Female Design Council.

Among the events and exhibitions on show are the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize exhibition, which features a spiky ceramic egg and a needle-felted chair, and British artist Samuel Ross’ series of massive furniture pieces made from wood, metal and stone.

Tree One sculpture inside the Habitat One exhibition in Seoul — EcoLogicStudio turns algae into air-purifying biopolymer “tree”

Also in design this week, Ecologicstudio unveiled its air-purifying biopolymer “tree“. Made from a biopolymer produced from harvested microalgae, the 10-metre-tall tree sculpture carries out photosynthesis.

The material can be used for cladding on interiors or exteriors and the studio is experimenting on creating larger, self-supporting structures.

Bridge to High Line by SOM — SOM connects block-long glulam bridge to the High Line

In New York, architecture studio Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) installed a block-long timber truss bridge called Timber Bridge.

The 92-metre-long bridge was constructed out of glued-laminated timber (glulam) and is part of the Moynihan Connector, which connects the High Line, an elevated walkway in Manhattan, to the Moynihan Train Hall transit hub.