Ireland at Venice

Inspired by Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly, this multi-sensory pavilion invites visitors to step inside a space shaped by collective voices.

Handcrafted from Irish beech and woven textiles, the installation combines traditional skills with contemporary design. Within, a chorus of soundboxes creates an immersive soundscape of music, poetry, and voices from participants and makers, reflecting on how we listen, speak, and decide together. Both instrument and gathering place, Assembly considers how architecture might support open dialogue and collective action-offering a space to hear and be heard.

The Ireland at Venice 2025 team included Louise Cotter, David Naessens, Michelle Delea, Alan Meredith, Luke Naessens and David Stalling.

Ireland at Venice is an initiative of Culture Ireland in partnership with the Arts Council Culture Ireland. The national tour of Ireland at Venice is supported by the Arts Council to promote architecture to audiences in Ireland.

At a moment when civic discourse is increasingly fragmented and mediated through digital space, Assembly proposes the act of coming together, physically and collectively, as both a political and poetic gesture. The national tour brings the pavilion into dialogue with audiences across Ireland and inviting new communities to inhabit, activate, and contribute to the work.

Note: The 11 outer and 22 inner speakers of the architectural installation increase and decrease in volume as their different sounds overlap. We invite you to take in all sensory aspects of the exhibit including the touch and scent of the beech wood.

For neurodivergent or noise-sensitive individuals we suggest to bring earplugs and use according to personal preference.