May 10 – September 28, 2025, 11 am – 7 pm
September 29 – November 23, 2025, 10 am – 6 pm
Closed Mondays (except May 12, June 2, July 21, September 1, October 20, November 17)

Giardini della Marinaressa, Riva dei Sette Martiri, Venice
Palazzo Bembo, Riva del Carbon, Venice

Venice, Italy – USM Modular Furniture, in collaboration with Virginia Tech Honors College, the Barcelona-based architecture firm Cloud 9 directed by Dr. Enric Ruiz-Geli, and the US design practice Joba Studio directed by Kevin Jones, will present unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. As an official collateral event of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the installation will be on view across two locations – Giardini della Marinaressa and Palazzo Bembo – from May 10 to November 23, 2025.

Selected by Biennale curator Carlo Ratti as one of the eleven must-see exhibitions of 2025, the project responds to the Biennale’s theme, Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective., by investigating the intersections of human-made environments and organic systems.

Rooted in Virginia Tech Honors College’s unique transdisciplinary approach, unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION brings together 142 students and 12 faculty members, and will showcase 11 student Honors Projects from faculties across the university. Curated by Dr. Enric Ruiz-Geli and Virginia Tech Collegiate Associate Professor Dr. Anne-Lise Velez, and under the creative direction and guidance of Virginia Tech Professor of Practice and Honors Faculty member Kevin Jones, the project transforms the iconic USM Haller system into a living ecosystem.

The students were tasked with developing transdisciplinary, action-oriented projects that explore sustainability, environmental justice, and human-nature coexistence through the lens of pollinators, wetlands ecology, and interspecies architecture – all framed within the broader Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 theme developed by Carlo Ratti.

Over seven months, the installation at Giardini della Marinaressa will evolve as an intelligent, interactive space that dissolves boundaries between nature and design. The structure will house student research and prototypes, including predictive models, pollinator-centered horticultural plans, architectural drafts, and curated displays, while actively engaging visitors through panel discussions and live activations.

At Palazzo Bembo, an iconic venue near the Rialto Bridge, the installation will spotlight the Honors College’s pedagogical innovations, presenting student projects at various stages of development. This space underscores the program’s commitment to adaptability, iteration, and continuous refinement.

The partnership between the iconic Swiss design furniture brand and the university represents a unique fusion of education and industry. Beyond providing its modular systems, USM has played an active mentorship role, guiding students through site visits, online meetings, and hands-on experimentation. This collaboration offers students an invaluable experience working alongside industry professionals, positioning the project as a model for how education and industry can intersect in meaningful ways.

“Very few companies in the world are willing to engage in the kind of design that I would call disruptive innovation,” says Enric Ruiz-Geli. “USM’s leadership has embraced this project with openness and ambition, raising the bar for both education and industry.”

The connection between USM and Virginia Tech is deeply rooted in architectural history. Before helping shape Virginia Tech’s architectural ethos in the 1970s, the Swiss architect Olivio Ferrari worked in Fritz Haller’s practice – co-designer of the USM Haller system. This legacy led to the establishment of a USM endowment program in 2002, through which Kevin Jones first engaged with the company. Now, in Venice, that history comes full circle as the modular structure of USM becomes both architecture and an ecosystem fostering exchange and discovery.

“This project goes beyond theory; it’s where design meets business, creativity meets discipline, and ideas cross boundaries,” said Kevin Jones. “My goal is to ensure these students are immersed, front and center, seeing firsthand how our priorities align with a legacy like USM’s. We’re crafting a project that redefines what an international educational partnership can be.”

By demonstrating design’s role in creating responsive environments that foster collaboration and innovation, unEarthed / Second Nature / PolliNATION – USM and Virginia Tech Honors College’s Venice Architecture Biennale debut – serves as a model for the future of architecture, education, and industry partnerships.

Swiss based USM has been providing timeless modular furniture designs suitable for both home and office environments for more than 60 years. Recognized as a design classic, USM was formally accepted into the permanent Design Collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Created from a few basic elements, the company’s furniture offers tailor-made solutions that can be expanded or reconfigured as needed. Each furniture piece allows room for maximum versatility and creativity. To encourage long-term use, all USM product lines are made from high-quality materials for strength and durability to last for years. USM Haller carries the Cradle-to-Cradle® certification, the leading multi-attribute standard used globally across industries for designing and making products that enable a healthy, fair and sustainable future according to the world's most advanced science-based measures.

usm.com
@usmmodularfurniture

Enric Ruiz Geli is Professor of Practice in Collaborative Discovery and Design at the Honors College of Virginia Tech and visiting faculty at SCI Arc in Los Angeles. Currently, he is developing his PHD dissertation “It’s All About Particles” with RMIT Europe. He is an architect trained at Barcelona’s School ETSAB-UPC and the Founder of Cloud 9 Studio. His work is fertile with an interdisciplinary approach to architecture including multiple collaborations with theater director Robert Wilson, theorist and philosopher Paul Virilio, visual artist Frederic Amat, ceramist Toni Cumella, designer and educator Simon Taylor, artist Inma Femenía, performer Pep Bou, soundscape’s musicians Rioji Ikeda, architect Frei Otto, landscape architect Margie Ruddick, physicist Josep Perelló and Neil Gershenfeld, fashion designers Bless, photographers Daniel Riera and Iwan Baan, economist Jeremy Rifkin, and most recently with El Bulli’s chef Ferran Adrià.

His interdisciplinary team of Cloud 9 in Barcelona works at the interface between architecture and art, digital processes and technological material development. The most important projects of Enric Ruiz Geli/ Cloud 9 include the Villa Nurbs, elBulliFoundation for the chef Ferran Adrià; and the Media-TIC building in Barcelona that has been awarded as Best Building of the World by WAF 2011. C9 Projects belong to the collection of MoMA in New York, CCA in Montreal, FRAC Centre Collection in Orleans, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Empordà Museum in Figueres and Design Hub in Barcelona. He has published in the New York Times, Wired, Domus, El Pais, La Vanguardia, AD, The Wall Street Journal, among others.

ruiz-geli.com
@enricruizgeli_cloud9

Joba has one goal: make people’s lives better through impactful design and compelling communications. In an increasingly digital world people crave authenticity in connections, in creative services, and in experiences. They want to be impacted and want to feel something deep within themselves. They crave honesty and vulnerability from the products and people that matter most to them.

Joba’s team recognizes this salient need and provides the total brand experience to reach clients and their target audience in a way that matters. Joba redefines what design and communications can – and should – be by focusing on how their work impacts others, and searching for those powerful, authentic, and genuine connections between people, art, words, and products.

jobastudio.com
@joba_studio

Kevin Jones, has seamlessly transitioned from an illustrious career as a professional American Football player in the NFL, to redirect his passion and determination towards academia and entrepreneurship in the creative sector. His academic journey complements a robust educational foundation, including an MBA and a B.S. in Industrial Design with a minor in Art History, both earned from Virginia Tech’s esteemed School of Architecture and Pamplin College of Business. Currently he is pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Design and Planning at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture.

As the founder, CEO, and creative director of Joba, an award-winning design, marketing, and communications studio, Kevin leads a multidisciplinary team dedicated to enriching lives through impactful designs and compelling communications. Joba's design portfolio spans projects with the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as numerous brands and retailers such as Nordstrom and Target across 25 countries worldwide.

The Honors College seeks to inspire and facilitate an extraordinary undergraduate education for a diverse student body of exceptional motivation. Utilizing a flexible curricular framework with a strategic array of experiences, opportunities, and facilities, the College pioneers progressive, innovative approaches to undergraduate education that can be scaled up across the university.

honorscollege.vt.edu
@virginia.tech
@VTHonorsCollege
@nobluenogreen.studio

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The Last Agency Anna Caradeuc, usm@thelast.agency

Photographer: Marco Galloway

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