Home. by Nicola Chiavarelli

Nicola Chiavarelli poetic reflection explores the Australian Pavilion at the 2025 Venice Biennale, a serene, luminous space titled HOME. In stark contrast to its dark exterior, the installation evokes peace, silence, and shared belonging. Centered around a circular tholos, it invites quiet reflection and communal connection. Crafted elements from students symbolise fragments of home and cultural identity. Beneath the minimalist design lies a hidden depth—technical precision and Indigenous heritage. The pavilion becomes a sacred, symbolic place, addressing not just the global audience but Australia itself. It’s a powerful statement of origin, unity, and recognition, urging visitors to feel, understand, and remember.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Strange but not alien, on the contrary.
It speaks of welcome, of silence, of peace.
It is an ark, another kind of space.

It does not spew images, does not shout words, does not grind sounds.
It is pure form, a temple, a piazza of thought.
It invites you to be, to be together.
To be together, an agora of shared values.
This installation at the Biennale is a stunning contrast, a surprise inside the dark, box-shaped chamber that contains it: a luminous, otherworldly world of white brushed by the water’s reflections.

I enter the pavilion in a whisper, a horizontal slit that interrupts the wall holds various objects, they are meteors of creativity, shards exuded by young students to reveal the mental essence of their home. Suddenly I am moved when I sit in the tholos, an archetypal space from the Mycenaeans to the Latins, from the Nuraghi to Terrae Nullius.

The circular structure receives and holds my vital energy with perfect proportions. The raw earth absorbs it; then I feel it return to the center of my chest, pure energy simply to be here.

It does not spew images, does not shout words, does not grind sounds.
The Australian Pavilion this time feels cocooned, pure latent force.
It is an unveiled thought to anyone seeking an “aha!” moment.
It must be told, because here a teaching is outlined.

HOME
It is a niche of thought coming to us from boundless lands, silence and sky, wind and the caress of home.
The circle defines, contains, welcomes, unites, communicates, confirms.
Here and now: if you are inside, you are with us.
Not one among many, but one with many.
My thoughts fly AB ORIGINE, from origin back to origin…
I imagine a need to be understood.

I know what lies beneath this white, barely wrinkled skin.
There is a clever technical understructure that remains hidden, but it is there.
There is an ancient ethnic understructure that remains hidden, but it is there.
The Australian Pavilion 2025 speaks to the Austral Nation with the subtlety and elegance of its creators…
the hard core of the project reaches beyond the Venice Biennale; it is addressed to its own country.
It is a shared, original, powerful sense of belonging.
You must know it is there.
You must want to see it.
You must recognize it.

It is there.
With HOME, with the First Nation

ITALIAN

Strano ma non estraneo, anzi.
Parla di accoglienza, di silenzio, di pace.
E’ un’arca, uno spazio altro.

Non vomita immagini, non urla testi, non macina suoni.
E’ pura forma, un tempio, una piazza del pensiero.
Invita a stare, a stare con.
Stare assieme, un agorà di valore comune.
Questo allestimento alla Biennale è contrasto a sorpresa dentro la scatola scura e squadrata che lo accoglie, è un luminoso mondo altro il bianco accarezzato dai riflessi dell’acqua.

Entro nel padiglione in sottovoce, il taglio orizzontale che interrompe la parete ospita oggetti svariati, sono meteoriti
della creatività, schegge trasudate da giovani studenti per mostrare l’estratto mentale della loro casa.

Mi commuovo d’improvviso quando mi siedo nel tholos, spazio archetipico dai Micenei ai Latini, dai Nuraghi alle
Terrae Nullis.
La costruzione circolare accoglie e contiene con proporzioni esatte la mia energia vitale.
La terra cruda me la assorbe, poi la sento tornare al centro del petto,
è energia pura stare qui.

Non vomita immagini, non urla testi, non macina suoni.
L’Australian Pavillon questa volta è ovattata pura forza sottesa.
E’ un pensiero, non svelato a chi cerca l’oh!
Va raccontato, perché qui è tracciato un insegnamento.

HOME
E’ nicchia di pensiero che ci arriva da territori senza limite, silenzio e cielo, vento e carezze di casa, il cerchio
determina, contiene, accoglie, unisce, comunica, conferma.
Qui e ora, se sei dentro sei con noi.
Non uno dei tanti ma uno con tanti.

Vola il mio pensiero AB ORIGINE, dall’origine verso l’origine…
Immagino una necessità di essere capiti.

So cosa c’è sotto questa pelle bianca, appena rugata.
C’è sottostruttura tecnica geniale che non si svela, ma c’è.
C’è sottostruttura etnica antica che non si svela, ma c’è

L’Australian Pavillon 2025 parla alla Nazione australe, con la sottigliezza e l’eleganza dei suoi creativi … il fondo duro
del progetto va oltre la Biennale di Venezia, è rivolto alla sua nazione.
E’ cognizione di appartenenza condivisibile, originale, forte
Devi sapere che c’è.
Devi volerlo vedere.
Riconoscere.

C’è
Con HOME, con le First Nation

About the Author: Nicola Chiavarelli

Nicola Chiavarelli is an Italian architect with a strong focus on sustainability and alpine restoration. Since 1995, he has worked with eco-compatible materials and techniques, believing deeply in architecture’s civic and cultural role.

A certified Bioecological Building Technician (ANAB), he collaborates with organisations such as Arte Sella, FAI, and Dolomiti Hub. Chiavarelli also played a part in shaping Italy’s first laws on treehouses and teaches sustainable design in various professional settings. Based in Fiera di Primiero, Trentino, he is active in community-building, environmental advocacy, and education, blending memory and contemporary design in both thought and practice.

CREDITS

Testo/Text: 
Nicola Chiavarelli Primiero SMdC TN Italia - architetto@chiavarelli.it 

Traduzione/Translation: 
Paola Favaro UNSW Sydney Australia - paola.f@unsw.edu.au