At the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, Iceland’s national pavilion introduces a provocative proposal from s.ap architects. The studio, led by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir and Arnar Skarphéðinsson, envisions a future in which volcanic lava becomes a primary construction material. Set in the year 2150, their Lavaforming project imagines a world where humanity, facing climate collapse, has learned to channel lava for building entire cities. This concept transforms a natural hazard into a sustainable material solution.

A Renewable Alternative to Carbon-Intensive Materials

Iceland sits on a tectonic rift, experiencing regular volcanic eruptions. Rather than viewing lava as destructive, the architects propose using it as a mono-material. When cooled under different conditions, lava can take on a wide range of properties. Slowly cooled lava becomes dense and load-bearing. Quick cooling produces obsidian, a glass-like material. Lava aerated during cooling forms a pumice-like, insulative texture.

This approach eliminates the need for mining and reduces industrial energy use. It also addresses the massive emissions caused by concrete production. By working with what the Earth naturally produces, Lavaforming offers a potential zero-carbon alternative to traditional building systems.

Integrating Natural and Human Intelligence

The pavilion reflects the Biennale’s 2025 theme: Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective. The team combines scientific lava flow models, design software, and natural forces to imagine future cities shaped by eruptions. This interdisciplinary method uses geologists’ data to simulate how lava might be guided safely and purposefully into architectural forms.

Architects, designers, and scientists are encouraged to collaborate on new tools and building strategies. The goal is to create structures that reflect both technological innovation and environmental intelligence.

Political and Ethical Implications of Material Use

Lavaforming also opens up important political questions. If lava can build a city in two weeks, who owns the resulting architecture? In Iceland, a 2012 draft constitution (never ratified) declared that natural resources below a certain depth belong to the people. The architects reference this idea to promote communal ownership of building materials. Their proposal challenges conventional ideas of property, extraction, and material value.

Rethinking Sustainability Beyond Greenwashing

The team is openly critical of how the term “sustainability” has been used in the building industry. They argue that certifications and buzzwords often obscure the real environmental costs of construction. Instead of relying on flawed systems, they pursue speculative design as a way to think outside established frameworks. Their pavilion has no client. It is designed for everyone.

A Pavilion of Stories and Speculation

Visitors to the Lavaforming Pavilion will encounter visualisations, animations, and a speculative film that follows daily life in the imagined city of Eldborg. While some physical lava materials will be displayed, the focus is on storytelling. The architects use fiction to explore new social, material, and political systems that could emerge from volcanic construction.

A Radical Vision for Regenerative Design

Lavaforming is not only a material experiment but also a design philosophy. It proposes a future in which architecture works with Earth’s forces rather than against them. For architects, product and material designers, and those working in extreme climates, this vision invites a deep reconsideration of what is possible — and what is necessary — in an era of climate urgency.

Source: CNN Style, La Biennale di Venezia, and Designboom
Images: s.ap architects