YACademy’s students redesign peggy guggenheim collection displays in venice

YACademy’s Architecture for Exhibition workshop 2024 edition

The results of YACademy’s 2024 Architecture for Exhibition workshop, led by Francesca Singer, Partner at SANAA, present a new approach to the display of the permanent collection at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. As part of the program, students were invited to develop proposals for reorganizing the exhibition layout of one of the most well-known modern art museums globally. This initiative was conducted in collaboration with SANAA, recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Students worked on proposals for Venice’s second most visited museum, home to significant works by Duchamp, Magritte, Picasso, Pollock, and others.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is located in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, an architecturally distinct site on the Grand Canal. The palazzo preserves the collection assembled by the far-sighted American patron Peggy Guggenheim (1898–1979), created over a period of some thirty years between Europe and the United States, and contains masterpieces of Cubism, Futurism, European abstraction, Surrealism, and American Abstract Expressionism. Five international teams of young architects were invited to rethink how modern art is displayed and experienced within this iconic Venetian setting. The workshop focused on the intersection of spatial design and exhibition strategy, emphasizing architectural continuity and curatorial sensitivity.

project by Ana Mirena Nick Neves, Ana Paula Gonzalez, Ayrton Vivanco, María Martínez Bengoa, Veronika Róza Háló

YACademy’s exhibition students propose ways to improve displays

Five international teams of YACademy‘s 2024 Architecture for Exhibition students developed concepts that explored new possibilities for how art is presented and experienced in this setting. Each group addressed the balance between preservation and reinterpretation, aiming to improve circulation and visitor engagement while enhancing the museum’s narrative and spatial coherence.

One team—Sofia Garkusha, Bianca Grilli, Maryam Magomadova, and Gabriela Koentopp—proposed a layout inspired by a diary-like sequence, structuring artworks around emotional and conceptual themes, and philosophical connections. Across several projects, recurring concerns included the integration of Peggy Guggenheim’s biography, clearer circulation paths, and stronger spatial connections between architecture and exhibited works. Other design strategies included translucent partitions, reflective surfaces, and aluminum thresholds proposed by Ana Mirena Nick Neves, Ana Paula Gonzalez, Ayrton Vivanco, María Martínez Bengoa, and Veronika Róza Háló, as well as modular wall panels and reconfigured seating imagined by Karen Kuo, Tomoki Tashiro, Marco Tirelli, and Evelina Četyrkovska. These interventions aimed to enhance viewer engagement and spatial flexibility, while fostering continuity with the building’s terrace and gardens.

project by Ana Mirena Nick Neves, Ana Paula Gonzalez, Ayrton Vivanco, María Martínez Bengoa, Veronika Róza Háló

Workshops held by renowned architects, tutors, and curators

The next edition of YACademy’s Architecture for Exhibition course (see more here) has been announced and will focus on a temporary exhibition planned for 2026 at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. This exhibition will address the history and early programming of the Guggenheim Jeune gallery in London between 1938 and 1939. Students will again visit the museum as part of the design process. The visit will be led by Gražina Subelytė, Associate Curator at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and curator of the 2026 exhibition. The course will be tutored by Giuseppe Zampieri, Partner at David Chipperfield Architects and Director of the Milan office. The studio was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2023.

YACademy’s educational model combines theoretical study with applied practice. The program emphasizes design approaches specific to exhibition contexts, including conservation standards, lighting, and perceptual analysis. Each edition includes a final professional placement within a leading architectural firm, offering participants practical orientation and integration into the professional field.

project by Tomoki Tashiro, Karen Kuo, Marco Tirelli, Evelina Četyrkovska

project by Eros Canzian, Amanda Camara Lima, Cynthia Mabel Quintero, Rafaella Senff Peixoto

project by Sofia Garkusha, Maryam Magomadova, Gabriela Koentopp, Bianca Grilli

project by Manjinder Kaur, Bhavana Priya Balasubramanian, Jingyi Su

project info:

name: Rearrangement of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, tutored by SANAA
architects: Yacademy’s Students in the Architecture for Exhibition course 2024 edition | @yacademy_bologna

tutors: Francesca Singer – SANAA | @sanaa_jimusho

host: Peggy Guggenheim Collection | @guggenheim_venice

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina vergopoulou | designboom