Organizers of the Venice Architecture Biennale have announced that the 17th edition of the international exposition has been postponed to 2021 as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Originally scheduled to open in late August, the event will now take place from May 22 of next year to November 21, 2021.

Curated by architect Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT, this edition of the biennale is themed around a question: How will we live together? "We are in some ways fortunate because we are well equipped to absorb the immediate and longer-term implications of the crisis into the 17th Biennale," said Sarkis in a statement. "The theme does also provide us with the possibility to respond to the pandemic in its immediacy."

"I am deeply moved by the perseverance of all the participants during the last three months," the curator continued. "I hope that the new opening date will allow them first to catch their breath, and then to complete their work with the time and vigor it truly deserves."