STUDIO KIM/ILLI
D-10997 BERLIN    ︎    13°19'59.5"E    GER    서울    KOR    巴科洛德    6100 PH

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SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025



















“Soil-beings (Lamánlupa) honors soil as the central element of architectural understanding,” the NCCA says it “invites the public to sense soil not merely as a component of construction but as a kin and life force integral to existence.”
19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT



























Soil is—rain, rich, minerals, fertile, ash, regenerative, roots, thriving, ecosystems, lush landscapes, natural, rock, formations, boron, clay, healing, transformation, minerals, growth, organic, renewable, energy, vibrant, compost, clean, water, flourishing, wet, biodiverse, landscapes, sun-kissed, natural, cyclic, flourishing, forests, sustainable, agriculture, mindful, irrigation, erosion, force, control, iron, cooperative, labor, restored, land, lithium, balance, carbon, capture, methane, crops, thriving, food, resilient, transitions, cultivation, solutions, self-sustaining, pipelines, permaculture, restoration, air, thriving, wildlife, wetlands, regenerative, nutrient, life-giving, living landscape, biodiversity, sustainable, energy, restoration—renewal.


















Arup Germany
Natural Building Lab (TU Berlin)
Bureau of Soils and Water Management (BSWM)
University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)
Division of Soil Science — Agricultural Systems Institute
Visayas State University (VSU)
[...]

SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
Office of Senator Loren Legarda
Cur. Renan Laru-an
Art. Christian Tenefrancia Illi



































SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT















The Terrarium does not present soil as an inert backdrop to human life but as a dynamic force, a space of motion and interaction, absorbing and releasing histories, ecologies, and affects.

Soil is never still. It shifts, breathes, erodes, replenishes, and transforms. What appears as solid ground beneath our feet is a vortex—an endless spiral of movement, decay, and renewal. 

The installation places nearly a 1000 soil tiles—collected across three workshop sites in the Philippines—its formal language may seem informed by extractivist logics—gridded tiles, compartments, volumes—but inside, the soil moves with its own logic.

It breathes. It leaks. It decays. It absorbs the microclimates generated by the overhead weathering system. It absorbs us, too—our footsteps, our gazes, our presence.

The work stages what we might call a slow refusal: a material turning away from commodification. Even as we try to frame it—architecturally, scientifically, socio-economically—soil continues to elude us. It transforms. It seeps out of the categories we build for it. This is not a monument. It’s a living organism.
SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT
SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT
SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT
SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
Office of Senator Loren Legarda
Cur. Renan Laru-an
Art. Christian Tenefrancia Illi
SOIL-BEINGS (Lamánlupa)
→ 2024—2025

19th Venice Biennale of Architecture (Mostra internazionale di architettura di Venezia)
Philippine Pavilion 2025

Venice, IT
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
Office of Senator Loren Legarda
Cur. Renan Laru-an
Art. Christian Tenefrancia Illi