(Chapel Hill, NC) -- The European Cultural Centre (ECC) in Venice, Italy, has invited pod architecture + design in Chapel Hill to participate in the 7th edition of its TIME SPACE EXISTENCE exhibition. This extensive architecture biennial showcase will run in Venice from May 24, 2025, to November 23, 2025, parallel to La Biennale Architettura, the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Free and open to the public, the exhibition will be presented in Palazzo Bembo, Palazzo Mora, and Marinaressa Gardens.

A multi-discipline design studio, pod architecture + design (pod a+d) is led by founders and principal designers Douglas Pierson, AIA, and experiential designer Youn Choi. (Pierson also teaches at North Carolina State University's School of Architecture, College of Design.) They are preceded in TIME SPACE EXISTENCE by an illustrious roster of participants including Snøhetta, Norman Foster Foundation, Ricardo Bofill, Balkrishna Doshi, Daniel Libeskind, Odile Decq, Tatiana Bilbao, Denise Scott Brown, and Arata Isozaki.

“We are happy and proud to see that several international architects, studios, and universities have trust in us,” said Elisa Dallanoce, exhibition organizer. “For the ECC, it is a pleasure to continue our collaboration with them.”

In correspondence between Pierson and Dallanoce, she shared how she and her team became aware of pod a+d : “We first found out about your work on Archello, and while having a look at your website, our attention was caught by your Green Building project. We believe that this project is a great example of adaptive reuse of an existing building, with a sustainable approach and beautiful design.”

Since then, she and her team found pod a+d’s award-winning design for the modern, metal-clad Rabbit Hole Distillery and, later, Tank Expansion building in downtown Louisville, Kentucky’s NuLu district. Dallanoce also discovered pod a+d’s current work-in-progress on a 45,000-square-foot expansion project in conjunction with local architect DKN.

“Your work for Rabbit Hole looks stunning,” she told Pierson. “The concept sounds perfectly in line with the main thematics of TIME SPACE EXISTENCE 2025, and it would be a pleasure to present it in our venues.”

Pierson and Choi have decided to focus their exhibition in Venice on pod a+d’s work for Rabbit Hole Distillery.

La Biennale di Venezia vs. the ECC’s Biennial Exhibition

Concerning the ECC’s relationship with La Biennale di Venezia, Dallanoce clarified, “Our TIME SPACE EXISTENCE exhibition is an independent event running in parallel to it. We used to be part of the official program of La Biennale. However, in recent years, we decided to become an independent event because we had grown in terms of participants and visitors. We now present around 200 projects and welcome more than 350,000 visitors each year.”

The ECC still collaborates with La Biennale, hosting pavilions in the ECC’s venues that do not have a fixed space in La Biennale’s venues.

“Moreover, we have a different concept than La Biennale,” Dallanoce stressed. “By giving participants the freedom to choose which project or combination of projects they would like to present, our exhibition aims to showcase a wide variety of perspectives on the current status of architecture.”

She also noted that ECC exhibitions are free and open to the public.

CLICK HERE for more information on the European Cultural Center.

CLICK HERE for more information on the TIME SPACE EXISTENCE exhibition.

CLICK HERE for more information on pod architecture + design...

...and HERE to see the primary Rabbit Hole Distillery project.