From May 10 to November 23, 2025, the Polish Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice – La Biennale di Venezia presents Lares et Penates: On Building a Sense of Security in Architecture — an anthropological and poetic inquiry into the human need for protection in inhabited space. Curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek and published by Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, the book was conceived in parallel with the eponymous exhibition at the Polish Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, yet stands as an autonomous project: an archive of thoughts, images, memories, objects, and gestures. An interdisciplinary and collective exploration blending essays, imagination, and visual storytelling.
In a time shaped by shared fears and overlapping crises — climate, social, political — Poland’s participation invites us to consider how architecture, whether knowingly or not, takes part in shaping our sense of safety. Not just material protection, but emotional, ritual, and cultural reassurance.
Read more about Poland’s participation here!
“Since the dawn of time, architecture has provided shelter. However, it was not just about physical protection, a roof protecting against bad weather or walls separating us from dangerous surroundings. A sense of security has also been built through non—rational practices, objects and customs rooted in culture.” — Aleksandra Kędziorek
An inquiry that moves through bodies, homes, and communities
Writers including Olga Drenda, Andrzej Marzec, Maciej Siuda, and Tatjana Schneider approach a single question from different angles: what makes us feel safe?
Their voices are joined by two visual perspectives: Katarzyna Przezwańska weaves together architecture, nature, and emotion; Krzysztof Maniak walks through landscapes in search of symbolic and actual shelters.
There is no single answer. Security lies somewhere between superstition and regulation, between design and desire. Some examine the domestic threshold as a symbolic border, guarded by ancient gestures; others view everyday objects as companions in a fragile balance. And some suggest that safety is not about isolation, but about recognising our ability to act collectively.
An atlas of emotional dwelling
The book closes with Atlas of Things — a collection of objects, rituals, and devices: from surveillance cameras to crosses carved on thresholds, from dowsing rods to smoke detectors. Each reminds us that security is also made of small acts, vernacular beliefs, and intuitive solutions. It’s not an exhaustive inventory, but a living, poetic, and everyday one. This section is brought to life by black—and—white illustrations by Maciej Siuda.
Graphic design as a curatorial gesture
This complexity is given form by the visual language of Kaja Kusztra, whose graphic design accompanies, interprets, and at times expands the book’s content. A bold and intentional colour palette — alternating magenta fields and canary yellow pages — marks the transitions between sections and intensifies the reading experience. The typographic grid, orthogonal but never rigid, balances structure and openness. The result is a book that can be read but also inhabited — like a space.
“We wanted to create a diverse, collage-like book that draws on various means of expression — functioning both as a richly illustrated atlas, a collection of research and philosophical essays, and an object offering visual experiences in itself.” — Maciej Siuda
An autonomous extension of the exhibition
While the exhibition at the Polish Pavilion stages these explorations through installations and visual materials, the book offers theoretical depth, intimate detail, and a slower pace. It is a curatorial gesture that moves from the exhibition space to the page, carrying the same speculative tension and the same care for storytelling.
Facts & Credits
Title Lares et Penates. On Building a Sense of Security in Architecture
Typology Book
Edited by Aleksandra Kędziorek
Texts by Krzysztof Maniak, Katarzyna Przezwańska, Maciej Siuda, Olga Drenda, Andrzej Marzec, Tatjana Schneider
Graphic design Kaja Kusztra
Publisher Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, 2025
Language English
ISBN 978—83—66979—41—3
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