Venice embarks on its month-long design conference with a floating theater

Every two years, Venice becomes a laboratory for architecture and design when it hosts the La Biennale di Venezia. For a month, the city is alive with panels, parties, and exhibitions, animated by thousands of architects and designers. As many attendees are quick to point out, the waterborne city is in a good deal of long-term trouble, as local residents are pushed out by foreign demand for real estate, and more crucially, as the coastal water levels rise.