Event
Invited by the Institute of Architects of Brazil, OPEN participated in the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale (BIAsp), held at Ibirapuera Park—designed by the legendary Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer—from September 18 to October 19, 2025. OPEN presented the UCCA Dune Art Museum and Tank Shanghai at the Oca Pavilion, the main exhibition venue of BIAsp, responding to two of the axes of BIAsp 2025: Embracing Water, and Refurbishing More and Building Green. Li Hu, Founding Partner of OPEN Architecture, delivered a keynote lecture titled “To Connect: Radically and Poetically” at the Biennale Conference on October 3.
Organized by the São Paulo Department of the Institute of Architects of Brazil, the BIAsp is one of the most important events in the global architecture and urbanism landscape. Since its first edition in 1973, the Biennale has been a fundamental space for reflection, experimentation, and debate on the contemporary challenges of architecture, urbanism, and urban life. This year, with the theme of “Extremos: Architectures for an Overheated Planet,” BIAsp explored architectural responses to extreme climatic events and global warming.
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Along the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, five decommissioned aviation fuel tanks once stood abandoned on a dilapidated industrial site.
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On a quiet beach along the coast of northern China’s Bohai Bay, the UCCA Dune Art Museum is carved into the sand, where it gently disappears.
