In line with the agenda established by Biennale curator Carlo Ratti for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2025, the Serbian Pavilion presents "Unraveling: New Spaces," designed by architects Davor Ereš, Jelena Mitrović, and Igor Pantić, along with designers Ivana Najdanović and Sonja Krstić, and researcher Petar Laušević.

Humility, flexibility, and collaboration are concepts that structure the proposal for the Pavilion, illustrating the way in which contemporary architectural practice operates. In the face of a fast-paced, ever-changing world, where the environment and society are constantly mutating, the role of traditional architecture is reinterpreted in pursuit of greater interaction with the full spectrum of knowledge. 

The team behind the Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at the Venice Biennale includes architects Davor Ereš, Jelena Mitrović, and Igor Pantić, who bring innovative insights into architecture and computational design from their academic and professional work. Mitrović brings innovative insights into architecture and computational design from their academic and professional work, while designers Ivana Najdanović and Sonja Krstić bring deep expertise in materiality and textile intelligence from their work in knitwear and fashion.

For his part, Petar Laušević incorporates the necessary creativity and knowledge of renewable energy to drive the installation and transform it into a dynamic structure. Together, the team is an expression of a generationally and disciplinarily diverse practice model that embraces traditional, digital, and collective intelligence to shape architecture in a changing world.

Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at La Biennale di Venezia. Photograph by ReportArch / Andrea Ferro Photography.

Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at La Biennale di Venezia. Photograph by ReportArch / Andrea Ferro Photography.

Made of wool, a material rarely associated with architecture, "Unraveling: New Spaces" is an immersive and constantly evolving pavilion. Conceived as a truly circular installation, "Unraveling" generates no waste. All the materials used in the installation return to their original configuration at the end of the exhibition: a thread. In this sense, the proposal invites us to rethink architecture as something transient and adaptable, encouraging special care for materials.

An immersive and constantly evolving pavilion, shaped with algorithmic precision that follows a slow, guided choreography. Hanging from the ceiling in catenary curves, the woven segments link the delicate Serbian tradition of weaving and architectural discipline in a contemporary expression.

Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at La Biennale di Venezia. Photograph by ReportArch / Andrea Ferro Photography.

Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at La Biennale di Venezia. Photograph by ReportArch / Andrea Ferro Photography.

The Serbian proposal, composed of 1.2 x 5 meter woven fabrics, is a mobile structure that unravels over time as a series of small motors powered by solar panels slowly but steadily pull the threads. Inviting visitors to interact with it from multiple perspectives, the pavilion moves, relaxes, or subtly deforms.

Ephemeral and unexpected. Thanks to the effect of the central light, which highlights its gradients of transparency and density, visitors will encounter a different configuration on each visit. "Unraveling" is a poetic gesture that merges Serbian artisanal traditions with pioneering research. An example of a multidisciplinary effort that challenges contemporary construction methods, demonstrating that architecture is a tactile practice with the potential to evolve, deform, and begin anew.

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Exhibition
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Exhibition Commissioner
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Stevan Martinović.

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Exhibition Curator
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Slobodan Jović. 

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Exhibition Authors
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Davor Ereš, Jelena Mitrović, Igor Pantić, Sonja Krstić, Ivana Najdanović, Petar Laušević.
 
 

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Collaborators
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Jury/Council of experts.- Biljana Jotić, Slobodan Jović, Milena Kordić, Dragana Konstantinović, Milka Gnjato, Pavle Stamenović, Danilo Dangubić.
Exhibition collaborators.- Marko Todorović, Louis Bouvrande, Jovana Petrović, Haein Hutt, Dušan Međedović.
Engineering consultants.- Format Engineers Ltd. 

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Organizado por
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Museum of Applied Art, Belgrade, in collaboration with the Union of Architects of Serbia.
 

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Supported by
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The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.

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Dates
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10.05. > 23.11.2025.

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Location
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Giardini della Biennale, (30122) Venice, Italy.

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Exhibition Videо Content
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Miloš Jaćimović.

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Davor Ereš is an architect and research assistant at the Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade. He works in the fields of architectural design, teaching, and research, with a focus on models of learning through architecture, architectural (post)production, and contemporary issues. His main professional motivation revolves around the perspective of architecture as a strategy for critical practice and action.

He was a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, teaching various architectural design courses, both undergraduate and master's, between 2003 and 2015. Since 2015, he has lectured at various international architecture schools and workshops. Since 2016, he has been a visiting professor at the Confluence Institute for Innovation and Creative Strategies in Architecture (Lyon and Paris).

He has exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the Tallinn Architecture Biennale. Founder of the architectural platform "Poligon," through which he practices architecture and develops independent research projects.

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Jelena Mitrović holds a PhD in Architecture (2007) and a PhD in Technical Sciences in Architecture and Urbanism (2021) from the University of Belgrade.

Since 2022, she has been an assistant professor at the Nikola Tesla University. She has also worked as an associate professor and assistant professor at the Department of Architecture, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture Belgrade, Serbia (2005-2015).

Regarding her professional experience, she has worked as an architect at Blakstad Haffner Architects - EBH, Belgrade (2016-2018) and as an external collaborator at the MITarh architectural firm in Belgrade (2018-2022).

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Igor Pantić is a London-based architect and educator, and the founder of Studio Igor Pantic Ltd. He works at the convergence of computational design, digital fabrication, and immersive AR/VR technologies, exploring how these disciplines influence how we design, create, and perceive built and virtual environments.

Igor is a Professor at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture in London, where he teaches in the B-Pro Architectural Design (AD) program. He leads research focused on the application of Mixed Reality technologies in architectural design and fabrication, working at the intersection of low-cost AR-assisted manufacturing and automation. He is also a Professor at the University of East London (UEL), where he teaches the MA Architecture Unit 6 program. He has also lectured and delivered computational design workshops and seminars internationally, and previously co-directed the AA Visiting School in Vienna.

Before founding his own design studio, Igor worked for seven years at Zaha Hadid Architects in London, where he worked on numerous large-scale projects. Igor holds a Master's degree from the Architectural Association Design Research Lab (AADRL) in London and the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Belgrade (Serbia).

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Published on: May 30, 2025
Cite:
metalocus, AGUSTINA BERTA
""Unraveling: New Spaces". Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia at La Biennale di Venezia" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/unraveling-new-spaces-pavilion-republic-serbia-la-biennale-di-venezia> ISSN 1139-6415
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