For Ireland, there is particular interest as it’s the first time Irish architects have been given the coveted curator positions. Considered the highest accolade in architecture, Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara of Grafton Architects hold the title for next year’s series of events.

These celebrated architects are the creative force behind dozens of spectacular buildings in Ireland and abroad, including the Universidad de Ingeniería Tecnología in Lima, Peru, which scooped the Royal Institute of British Architects best building prize last year.

The high-achieving pair’s chosen theme of freespace reflects architecture’s potential to enhance the lives of people on a daily basis. Open to many different interpretations, this broad theme has been a thread in the curators’ works since they founded their company back in 1978.

Throughout the course of the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale – running from 26 May until 25 November – Farrell and McNamara are curating the main exhibitions in the Arsenale and the Central Pavilion in the Giardini.

This area spans 11,000m2, roughly the size of Dublin’s O’Connell Street, and will be populated with work by architects from around the world. Farrell and McNamara will also run a series of events in Venice next summer and create a catalogue for the six-month event series, which is the permanent legacy of the Biennale.

As this is the first time that Irish architects have curated the entire Biennale, the world is expecting great things.

Separately to the work of the main curators, during the Biennale, dozens of countries have dedicated exhibition spaces and Ireland’s is always a hotbed of talent. From the Tom De Paor structure, N3, made up of 1,741 peat briquettes to O’Donnell & Tuomey’s dramatic installation, The Transformation of an Institution, about Letterfrack's Furniture College; the Irish Architectural Pavilion has been home to many memorable installations.

As well as celebrating architecture, the Venice Biennale showcases exceptional talents from across a range of creative disciplines. Norah McGuinness, Louis le Brocquy, Grace Weir and Richard Mosse have all exhibited artworks in their fields in the past. The 2017 Biennale is running until 26 November with Dublin-born artist Jesse Jones currently exhibiting her contemporary art piece Tremble Tremble at the Irish Pavilion.

The Irish National Pavilion is funded by Ireland at Venice, an initiative by Culture Ireland in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland and is supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Creative Ireland Programme.