
UPA AT TIME SPACE EXISTENCE
VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2023
UPA Installation in Partnership with reFrame
at Palazzo Bembo - Rialto


















UPA was invited to participate in the 2023 edition of Time Space Existence, the collateral exhibition organised by the European Cultural Centre as part of the Venice Architecture Biennale. The studio was among the selected Italian, UAE and Iraqi practices presenting work at Palazzo Bembo, one of the official ECC venues on the Grand Canal — chosen in part for its active operational presence across three distinct geographic and cultural contexts.
The studio presented a dedicated installation documenting fifteen years of international practice across the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia — built work in the UAE, Iraq, Russia, Jordan, and Kyrgyzstan, developed from 2007 onward.
The installation comprised a three-screen digital array displaying architectural drawings, photographic documentation, and a video analysis of the studio's built portfolio. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with reFrame as media partner, and was complemented by a technical symposium held at Palazzo Michiel on 10 November 2023.
The upper register of the installation carried the studio's founding principle — "fare di necessità virtù" — translated into the eighteen languages spoken across the studio's international workforce: a graphic acknowledgement that architecture, by necessity, is always a local act.
The lower register displayed the studio's name transposed into machine-readable barcode form — a reference to the studio's ongoing engagement with digital technology in architectural practice, from parametric design to AI-assisted spatial analysis.
The professional philosophy underpinning the installation is documented in the studio's Philosophy page.
