The Pavilion of Finland travels from Venice to Soeul
Studio Flint
The exhibition curated by Ella Kaira and Matti Jänkälä for the Pavilion of Finland at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale is now continuing its journey in South Korea.
The Pavilion – Architecture of Stewardship, first presented at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, is now continuing its journey in South Korea. Produced by Archinfo and curated by Ella Kaira and Matti Jänkälä, the extensive video piece conceived by the curators together with video artist Merle Karp is now featured in the special exhibition Caring by Design in Seoul.
Opened on 17 September at Culture Station Seoul 284, Caring by Design explores design through the perspectives of care, maintenance and use. It challenges the idea of design as a one-off end result and instead turns its attention to what happens to buildings, spaces and urban environments over time. The exhibition brings together 20 South Korean and international artists and designers, with a total of 33 works on display.
The theme is a natural continuation of the Venice exhibition, which used Alvar Aalto’s Finnish Pavilion to explore the kinds of work that make it possible for architecture to endure. Alongside the building, the exhibition highlighted the people whose work often remains in the shadow of completed architecture: maintenance workers, repairers, cleaners, construction workers, engineers and other professionals whose contributions keep buildings in use.
Now, the exhibition takes on a new context as part of a South Korean exhibition that explores these questions on a broader scale. How does the built environment change through use? Who takes care of what already exists? And what kind of design is needed to maintain what already exists rather than building anew?
Also other exhibitions produced by Archinfo for the Finnish Pavilion since 2018 have found new audiences and connections beyond Venice. Reusing and adapting exhibitions in new contexts extends their lifespan and gives their themes an opportunity to continue the conversation internationally.
Caring by Design is on view at Culture Station Seoul 284 until 1 November 2026. The exhibition is curated by Chung Dahyoung (CAC – Curating Architecture Collective).
Read more about The Pavilion – Architecture of Stewardship, presented at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale here.
