An archival image of the Korean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, located in the Giardini, a sprawling parkland that serves as the event's main venue. Courtesy of Arts Council Korea

"Little toad, little toad / I'll give you an old home / Give me a new one."

This timeless folk song — long cherished by generations of Korean children as they built tiny homes from soil — inspires the Korean Pavilion exhibition at the upcoming Venice Architecture Biennale.

"The song's lyrics reflect a cycle of architectural renewal through the alternating words ‘old home' and ‘new home.' We've adopted this theme to represent the past and future of the pavilion as it marks its 30th anniversary," said Chung Da-young during a Monday conference. Chung is one of three curators from Curating Architecture Collective (CAC), alongside Kim Hee-jung and Jung Sung-kyu, who will oversee this year's show.

The Venice Biennale, which alternates annually between art and architecture, is a dual-format event, composed of its flagship International Exhibition and an array of national pavilion showcases, each organized by the respective home country.

Only 29 nations have permanent pavilions in the Giardini — the biennale's main site, set within a sprawling parkland — while the rest are scattered elsewhere throughout the lagoon city.

The Korean Pavilion was the last to secure a coveted spot in the Giardini, when its building, designed by architects Kim Seok-chul and Franco Mancuso, was erected along the hillside edge of the park in 1995.

Chung Da-young, right, one of three curators from Curating Architecture Collective, who will oversee this year's show at the Korean Pavilion, speaks during a press conference at ARKO Art Center in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

But from the very beginning, its construction process was anything but straightforward. Since the Venice Lagoon is a UNESCO World Heritage site, all construction and renovation projects are subject to stringent regulations, approved only if they align with the preservation of the area's cultural and environmental values.

The Korean Pavilion was designed under the strict directive that not a single tree on the site could be harmed, nor could the ground be disturbed. As a result, its peculiar structure was born — a cylindrical steel hall with windowed walls and an open-plan layout, giving it the feel of a living room rather than a conventional white-cube gallery. Even then, the building was originally intended to be temporary.

Three decades later, however, the pavilion still stands. Yet, according to CAC, it now finds itself at a new crossroads.

"We are at a moment where we must confront both the architectural limitations of the Korean Pavilion and the fact that it is finally losing its title as ‘The Last Pavilion,' following the announcement that the new Qatar Pavilion will soon enter the Giardini," Chung said. "And in a broader context, we are also facing the urgent realities of the climate crisis, which presents an existential threat to the city of Venice."

A digital rendering of the Korean Pavilion's "Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion" exhibition / Courtesy of Arts Council Korea

An official poster for "Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion," which will be staged at the Korean Pavilion at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale / Courtesy of Arts Council Korea

With this in mind, the forthcoming exhibition, "Little Toad, Little Toad: Unbuilding Pavilion," reflects on the national pavilion's unusual 30-year history while contemplating its future — alongside that of the biennale itself.

Four participating architects — Dammy Lee of Flora and Fauna, Young Yena of Plastique Fantastique, Park Hee-chan of Studio Heech and Kim Hyun-jong of Atelier KHJ — thus shift the usual spotlight from the artworks to the pavilion itself, emphasizing its presence within the surrounding topography.

Lee brings attention to the often-overlooked nonhuman inhabitants that have shaped the building's history, from the tree branches to the stray cats that pass through its open spaces. Park, meanwhile, creates an installation that sensorially interacts with the trees encircling the structure.

Young takes an imaginative leap back 30 million years, reimagining the piloti space beneath the pavilion through a prehistoric lens. On the rooftop, Kim places a sculptural piece inspired by the billowing sails of a ship, evoking the maritime heritage shared by both Korea and Venice.

This year's Venice Architecture Biennale will take place from May 10 to Nov. 23, with preopenings on May 8. Leading its flagship International Exhibition is Italian architect Carlo Ratti, director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, under the theme "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective."