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Carlo Ratti 0 loves cities and the built environment. Ranked as one of the top ten most-cited scholars in urban planning and one of the leading designers in America, he focuses on intelligent systems and the convergence between the natural and artificial worlds. Recently nominated curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, he aims to foster a public conversation 1 on our urban habitat, starting from his work at the intersection between academic research 2, innovative design 3, and start-up entrepreneurship 4.
Carlo’s opinions on cities, technology, and the future are contributing to a global conversation. Follow his hottest takes across the pages of his books, opinion essays, interviews, and social media.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
Venice, Italy
Senseable City Amsterdam and @ams_institute are representing at Amsterdam Innovation Day!
Stop by Marineterrein today between 2:00-5:00, say hello 👋 and celebrate 750 years of Amsterdam 🇳🇱
#futurefest #amsterdam #innovation
May’s Esquire Italia landed on newsstands with Carlo Ratti on the cover. @sonolacristina caught up with him right before the opening week of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, a project that has positioned itself to redefine how we inhabit tomorrow’s world.
For @labiennale, Ratti launched the curatorial process with a public call for ideas from around the world—thousands of students and professionals responded. In the end, he selected over 750 participants, convinced that “the debate must expand to include voices furthest from pure architecture.”
That’s why this edition, titled “Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective”, features not just architects but cosmologists, humanoid builders, chefs, and scientists. “We’re seeing this in universities, too: alongside technical disciplines, collaborations with the social sciences are gaining ground.” Many of today’s changes, Ratti believes, “have a behavioral component that must be understood and anticipated.”
The built environment accounts for 40% of global carbon emissions and 40% of raw material consumption. “So while in the 1990s the focus was on mitigation,” Ratti says, “the 2025 Biennale is about adaptation.”
Can architects be agents of change? “I call them mutagenic agents—a strong term, perhaps,” Ratti remarks. “But emphasizing transformative architecture is a way to spark debate: many lament that Biennales feature more contemporary art and politics than buildings. My aim is to cross those boundaries, using every tool we have to envision a different future.”
The full interview by Cristina D’Antonio continues in the cover story of Esquire Italia No. 41
Credits
Editor in Chief: Giovanni Audiffredi @audiffredi
Fashion Director & Style: Nik Piras @nikpiras
Text: Cristina D’Antonio @sonolacristina
Photo: Federico Ciamei @federicociamei
Grooming: Matthew Tuozzoli @tuozzoli
Style Assistants: Diego Serna @diegosernah, Bilal Mourchid @bilalmourchid
Production: Sabrina Bearzotti @sabrinabearzotti
Location: Palacio de los Duques Gran Meliá, Madrid @palacioduquesgm
Fashion: Zegna @zegna
Art Direction: Tomo Tomo @tomotomo.studio
#esquireitalia
Meet AquaPraça: a floating cultural plaza for a planet`s water levels 🌊
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon unveil a buoyant public space that adapts to rising sea levels — anchoring COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Rooted in principles of equilibrium and designed as a civic platform, AquaPraça invites visitors to meet the sea at eye level, transforming architecture into a living forum for climate dialogue.
Unveiled at #BiennaleArchitettura2025, the platform will travel across the Atlantic to become a lasting cultural landmark in the Amazon.
📍 Venice → Belém
📆 September 2025 → November 2025
A collaboration with Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, CIHEAM Bari, Connect4Climate, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
#CRA @labiennale @ciheam_bari @connect4climate @bloombergdotorg @howeleryoonarchitecture @italymfa #HowelerYoon #AquaPraça #COP30 #ClimateAction #FloatingArchitecture #PublicSpace #DesignForChange #Belém #VeniceBiennale #ArchitectureAndClimate #CollectiveDesign
How can a building evolve alongside the people who inhabit it?
With the City of Naples, we’re reimagining Le Vele — the iconic modernist complex by Franz Di Salvo — through a collective process of memory, design, and AI.
Stories become spaces. Voices become visions.
At the Biennale Architettura 2025, a suspended model of Vela Celeste presents AI-generated futures born from community input — a dialogue between memory and transformation.
Not demolition. Not nostalgia. But design in progress.
@crassociati @manfredi_official @labiennale #GENS #IntelliGens #LeVele #VelaCeleste #Napoli #BiennaleArchitettura #ParticipatoryDesign #FranzDiSalvo #UrbanRegeneration
@agnese_bedini @dsl__studio
The 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, curated by Carlo Ratti, opened to the public over the weekend.
We’re excited to share a little behind the scenes of the work that went into bringing Senseable’s Data Clouds ☁️ and Re-Leaf 🌳 exhibitions to life.
Special thanks to our collaborators at @mit @harvardgsd @journeydotworld and beyond!
@labiennale
#biennalearchitettura2025 #MIT #harvardgsd #intelligens #labiennaledivenezia #urban #innovation
#CarloRatti #intelligens #Gens #BiennaleArchitettura2025 #labiennaledivenezia #biennalearchitettura @labiennale @hansulrichobrist @paolantonelli #mphomatsipa
How can we use new tools to uncover our cities’ hidden secrets? Our team at the MIT Senseable City Lab is publishing new findings all the time. Read on for some of our latest discoveries…
Professor of the Practice of Urban Technologies
Director
Distinguished Professor
Honorary Professor
Visiting Research Fellow
Visiting Professor
Cambridge, United States
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A pavilion with walls of water. A skyscraper covered in plants. A renewable energy battery that doubles as a sauna. Carlo’s design firm, CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, is designing the city of tomorrow and bringing the natural and artificial worlds together.
Carlo believes that innovation has to make it into the real world – and we have created an ecosystem of startups. We have received more than 500 million dollars to fund multiple projects internationally, in the field of micro-mobility, leisure, and construction.
Turin
Turin
Palm Beach
London
Prague
Looking for the website of the design office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati? We have moved!
Find us at www.carlorattiassociati.com
Contacts
For general inquiries: info@carloratti.com
For press inquiries: pr@carloratti.com