Belgian pavilion, National pavilion in Giardini della Biennale, Venice, Italy

The Belgian pavilion is an Art Nouveau exhibition building in the Giardini della Biennale, designed by Léon Sneyers for its 1907 construction. A. de Bosschère added rooms on both sides of the main hall between 1929 and 1930 and replaced the flat roof with a pitched one. Virgilio Vallot restored it in 1948, giving the façade a concave form with rosette motifs, and Georges Baines converted the interior into a white cube gallery in 1997.

The Belgian pavilion was the first foreign pavilion built in the Giardini, designed by Léon Sneyers in 1907 in Art Nouveau style influenced by Josef Hoffmann and Viennese architecture. A. de Bosschère expanded it between 1929 and 1930, adding rooms on both sides of the main hall and replacing the flat roof with a pitched one. Virgilio Vallot restored it in 1948, giving the façade a concave form with rosette motifs, and Georges Baines renovated it in 1997 into a white cube gallery.

Belgium's representation at the Biennale has included James Ensor, Constant Permeke and Louis Van Lint in 1948, Luc Tuymans in 2001, and Berlinde De Bruyckere in 2013 with curator J. M. Coetzee. The pavilion also hosts the architecture biennial, such as "Eurotopie" curated by Traumnovelle in 2018.

The pavilion stands in the Giardini della Biennale, the walled park in Castello that holds about 30 national pavilions; enter from the Giardini entrances along Viale Garibaldi or the waterfront. It opens only while the Biennale is running, so check the current edition's dates before planning. The building is a short walk from the Giardini vaporetto stop.

The 1907 building by Léon Sneyers was the first foreign pavilion on the Giardini, predating most national houses there. Its façade was made concave with rosette motifs by Virgilio Vallot in 1948, and Georges Baines turned the interior into a white cube in 1997.