May 10 to November 23, 2025
Palazzo Bembo Location:
Riva del Carbon, 4793,
30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Giardini della Marinaressa Location:
Riva dei Sette Martiri,
30122 Venezia VE, Italy
unEarthed at Palazzo Bembo
unEarthed is an exhibition grounded in the unseen roots of innovation. Drawing inspiration from underground ecosystems—where collaboration between organisms sustains growth—the exhibition invites visitors to explore the hidden systems that drive progress in education, research, and creative practice.
The exhibition showcases a diverse range of student projects that reflect the Virginia Tech Honors College’s commitment to transdisciplinary learning. Each project is a window into how discovery happens: not in isolation, but through dynamic collaboration across disciplines. Through interactive displays, visual storytelling, and strategic design, unEarthed makes visible the networks of inquiry and action that prepare students to lead in complex, global contexts.
Presented within the historic Palazzo Bembo, unEarthed offers an introspective, systems-oriented counterpart to the outdoor pavilion, inviting reflection on what happens beneath the surface.
Second Nature /PolliNATION
at Giardini della Marinaressa
Where unEarthed explores internal processes, Second Nature/PolliNATION brings them into the open. Designed and constructed by students through the No Blue, No Green studio course, this immersive pavilion embraces the principles of regenerative design to address climate resilience in Venice.
The pavilion’s name reflects a dual mission: to introduce a new "second nature" into the urban landscape and to promote sustainability as a behavior that becomes second nature to us all. Surrounded by a pollinator garden and supported by a timber-framed architectural system, the pavilion integrates ecological elements with modular furniture and technology to create a space for reflection, education, and regeneration.
Every design element—from atmospheric water irrigation to materials sourced with carbon neutrality in mind—reflects a commitment to sustainability and collaborative impact. Second Nature/PolliNATION invites visitors not only to observe but to engage with a new vision for environmental and social connection.
