Tropicalia, the world’s largest domed greenhouse at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale

TROPICALIA, the world’s largest domed greenhouse at the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale

TROPICALIA – Architecture, Materials, Innovative Systems is a Collateral Event of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

Organized by the not-for-profit organization Zuecca Projects and Coldefy, the exhibition TROPICALIA presents the world’s largest single-dome greenhouse.
Designed by French architecture firm Coldefy, the greenhouse will be built on the Côte d’Opale, on the French side of the English Channel, starting in 2024.
Unlike other imposingly large structures, the Tropicalia greenhouse is not intended to generate a fracture in the surrounding landscape but to integrate and merge with it. Furthermore, the dome has been designed to respond efficiently to different challenges, including obtaining optimal thermal insulation through an innovative double-dome shell and achieving energy self-sufficiency.
Comprising a diverse set of exhibits – including architectural models, drawings, sketches, and videos -, the exhibition is also intended to explore environmental and educational themes and to investigate how science can answer the question “How will we live together?”, the title of the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale, 2021 curated by Hashim Sarkis.
The exhibition is curated by Alessandro Possati, director of Zuecca Projects, and architect Thomas Coldefy, principal of Coldefy.

Above and cover image: Tropicalia greenhouse by Coldefy, 2023 © Octav Tirziu

Tropicalia Greenhouse by Coldefy, 2023. General View © Coldefy

Tropicalia greenhouse by Coldefy, 2023 © Coldefy

Tropicalia greenhouse by Coldefy, 2023, sections of the dome © Coldefy

Tropicalia greenhouse by Coldefy, 2023, the dome © Coldefy
images: courtesy of Zuecca Project

TROPICALIA – Architecture, Materials, Innovative Systems.
Squero Castello – Salizada Streta 368, Castello 30122, Venice
22 May / 21 November 2021
(pre-opening 20-21 May)
info http://www.zueccaprojects.org