When I was a kid, I was told it was bad luck to walk under a ladder, and to this day I will go out of my way if I even get near one. Among the many architectural and design projects dealing with the environment and human shelter at the Biennale Architettura 2025, only one team of multidisciplinary researchers sought to question the role of superstitious practices alongside practical architectural applications. Lares et Penates, the main title of the Polish pavilion’s exhibition, curated by Aleksandra Kędziorek, is a reference to the two Roman deities meant to vigil over Roman families and their households. The presence of these two gods was thought to bring good fortune.
I don’t think there are any statistics on lives saved by not walking under ladders, but I am sure the admonition is not completely meaningless. A horseshoe above the entry foyer, covering up mirrors during a funeral wake, or painting a door red are rituals most of us are familiar with, but the brilliance of the Polish pavilion’s posture on domestic conventions is that it treats with equal value all that is incredulous along with all that is rational—in other words, horseshoes and fire extinguishers become equally indistinguishable components in the construction of an everyday house.
Kędziorek and her team—Krzysztof Maniak, Katarzyna Przezwańska, and Maciej Siuda—came up with a strategy to illustrate this rather simple premise by combining basic domestic technologies with rudimentary magical-like objects in a way the public could readily comprehend. This is what I found most beguiling about their approach. The Polish pavilion, which in previous iterations has been packed to the ceiling with interesting but largely invasive installations, has settled into some kind of tranquil existence, where a bowl of milk cohabits with a CCTV camera, a candle on a windowsill maintains a stable presence much like the little ceiling smoke detector, and a fire extinguisher niche is given a celebratory mosaic treatment.
Lares et Penates, On Building a Sense of Security accomplishes a real miracle: The exhibition is neither annoyingly rhetorical nor overly obsequious. Naturally the narrative is based on deep Eastern European traditions, but this odd fusion of modern and archaic hits a very contemporary existential chord. When I talked to Kędziorek, I asked her what inspired her to explore these multiple dimensions of homemaking. Was it something from her childhood? “Yes, if I were to forget something in the house,” she responded after giving it some thought,” and I would have to go back home to retrieve it, my father told me to take at least 10 seconds before leaving the house again.” Why the 10 seconds? Kędziorek wasn’t sure, but she thought it might have something to do with the possible presence of evil spirits and the need to prevent them from finding a chance to sneak inside.
There is, of course, an anthropological undertone to the Polish pavilion’s exhibition that could serve similar investigations elsewhere. Superstition is based on commonsense actions and as such plays a role in dispelling fears while providing the public with some form of peace of mind. It’s possible that when you visit Poland’s offering you will come away with a special sense of protection.
Peter Lang is a curator, writer, and educator focusing on architecture and the arts.
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