The Archive & The City project has won the Bronze Award at the European Design Awards 2026 in the Infographics & Data Illustration category. The project, developed for the exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale, was design by studio FM milano in collaboration with DensityDesign Lab, Department of Design, under the coordination of Luigi Farrauto.
Archive & The City explores new visual scenarios for representing and reorganizing the vast historical archive of La Biennale di Venezia. As part of the Department of Design’s contribution, DensityDesign Lab focused on the design of the three large backlit infographics installed in the portals along the nave of the Ca’ Giustinian.
The three infographics offer complementary readings of the archive:
The first visualizes the structure of the Archivio Storico delle Arti Contemporanee, showing how its fonds and collections are organized and how different types of materials are distributed across the archive.
The second infographic represents the archive’s visual contents, including more than 140,000 digitized or digitally acquired images, such as photographs, scans, artworks, documents, and posters. Using an unsupervised learning algorithm, the images are grouped according to visual similarity, revealing unexpected affinities and recurring visual clusters across the archive.
The third infographic maps the network of connections between the works documented in the archive and the people, institutions, companies, artisans, producers, technicians, and other professionals involved in them. It shows the dense web of collaborations behind the different editions of the Biennale, bringing into view both central figures and less visible actors who contributed to shaping its history.
Credits
Creative Director: Cristiano Bottino – studio FM milano
Art Director: studio FM milano
Data visualization: DensityDesign Lab (Michele Mauri, Ángeles Briones, Alessandra Facchin, Elena Aversa, Tommaso Battisti)
Copywriter: studio FM milano
Theoretical Contribution: Jon Kleinberg, Marco Santambrogio, Achille Varzi, Historical Archive of La Biennale di Venezia (ASAC)
Coordinator: Luigi Farrauto
Type Design: Stefano Cremisini – CAST Foundry
European Design Awards
The European Design Awards were established in 2007 to celebrate the diversity and shared values of European design, foster connections among designers across the continent, and promote higher standards in communication design. By recognising both emerging and established practitioners, the awards aim to highlight the creativity, research, and dedication that shape contemporary European design culture, while creating a reference point for international audiences seeking excellence in the field.
In 2026, the awards ceremony took place at Lumiere Hall, located inside the landmark National Palace of Culture in Sofia.