Carla Leitao, a lecturer in the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been invited to present work at “CityX Venice,” the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale Italian Virtual Pavilion, curated by Tom Kovac from RMIT University in Australia and Alessandro Melis of the University of Portsmouth in England.

The Venice Architecture Biennale is an exhibition held every two years in Venice, Italy, that features the work of architects from around the world. This year’s exhibition, which began on May 22, is curated by Hashim Sarkis from MIT. The theme is “How will we live together?”

Leitao is showcasing her [PROTO] SPACES / PLANETOLOGY design studio project as part of the Biennale’s Space and Planetary Design Group, curated by creative director Ed Keller. The project explores how architecture designs shift to incorporate material particles that are more active, provocative, and stimulating in a physical, digital, virtual, and scalar sense.

[PROTO] SPACES introduces work realized by students from the School of Architecture in collaboration with the Collaborative Research Augmented Immersive Virtual Environment (CRAIVE) Laboratory at Rensselaer.

Designed and directed by Jonas Braasch, a professor in the School of Architecture at Rensselaer, the CRAIVE Lab is a 360-degree visual and audio projection space that hosts work from various research areas, including acoustics, architecture, cognitive science, computer science, and arts, as well as the Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences program. The room allows multidisciplinary experimentation by students and faculty across campus into areas such as environment design, information visualization, and ambiance.

The Venice Architecture Biennale exhibition is open through November 21.