The Biennale Architettura 2023 Venice:

EQUITONE’s Sustainable Contribution to the German Pavilion

EQUITONE is the Corporate Partner of the German Pavilion

What does the Hong Kong Art Museum, a shopping centre in Rome, a school in Berlin and a residential building in Paris have in common? They all have facades made with EQUITONE panels! The surplus cuttings and building site offcuts were selected by the curators of the German Pavilion and recovered by the EQUITONE team, who took them from the cutting centre in Padua to the Biennale spaces. These leftover fibre cement panels will be given a new life: they will be used for repairs, cladding and more in the "Maintenance 1:1" workshop programme.

Open for Maintenance

The opening of the Architecture Biennale 2023 in Venice marked the start of the programme of the German Pavilion, which runs alongside the main exhibition 'The laboratory of the future' in the Giardini and Arsenale. Through the slogan 'Open for Maintenance', the curatorial team emphasises the maintenance work that often remains invisible and raises awareness of the fact that our planet's material resources are limited. How? By promoting a large training workshop to learn how to (re)use waste materials from the previous Art Biennale, together with recycled materials from the EQUITONE panels.

Interview with Petter Krag, Curator of the German Pavilion

From "exhibition" to 'habitation"

For the next six months, the curators together with students from more than 20 International Universities will use the materials collected in the German Pavilion to give a new character to disused buildings and spaces in Venice. The aim is to move from the concept of 'exhibition' to that of 'habitation', by creating real projects for the redevelopment of housing in the Venice area with a focus on social and accessible architecture.

Reducing resources, avoiding waste

Sustainability, the guiding theme of this edition of the Biennale and of the German Pavilion in particular, has long been the driving force behind the development and innovation of EQUITONE, a pioneer on the path towards circular building principles. As the first producer of fibre-cement façade panels, EQUITONE achieved Cradle to Cradle bronze level certified® in March 2023. By 2030, the global fibre cement materials brand also aims to reuse and recycle all EQUITONE façade panels.

Want to know more?

In addition to the Cradle to Cradle standard for all materials, each texture has its own environmental sustainability data sheet and EPD.

To find out more about the EQUITONE sustainability journey, receive technical documentation, free samples or further information fill in the form with your details.