This week on Dezeen, we showcased pavilions and exhibitions at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the first major architecture event to take place since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dezeen spoke to curator Hashim Sarkis about how the pandemic forced the organisers and participants to re-imagine how they can work together to create exhibitions.

We also looked at the statistics for geographical and gender diversity at the biennale and found that just a quarter of participants are female and only a third come from countries outside Europe and the USA.

Among the highlights this year was the US Pavilion by American architects Paul Andersen and Paul Preissner, featuring a four-storey wooden frame made from pine.

The Danish Pavilion looked at the circularity of water with a pavilion that featured a closed-loop system feeding rainwater into a flooded room.

The biennale also features a number of exhibitions, including Lucy McRae's Heavy Duty Love, a cushion machine designed to offer lab-grown humans a womb experience.

Our events guide to the city has all the information you need to know about the event.

In US news, photos reveal British designer Thomas Heatherwick's design for Little Island, an elevated park built on mushroom-shaped concrete columns in the Hudson River.

The park officially opened to the public on 21 May and is free to visit with timed tickets.

Danish architecture studio Henning Larsen began construction on a sustainable school in Denmark that will be the first to receive the Nordic Ecolabel. The wood-clad primary school will have a walkable roof.

Also unveiled this week was Foster + Partners masterplan for The Forestias, a multi-generational neighbourhood on the edge of Bangkok that will have a forest at its centre.

American artist Theaster Gates was revealed to be the designer of next year's Serpentine Pavilion, the first non-architect to be commissioned for the event.

Gates has an urban planning background and has previously converted a derelict bank building in a low-income Chicago neighbourhood into a cultural venue with galleries, event space, and libraries.

Popular projects this week included a rear extension by Turner Architects, an oval-shaped school in the Indian desert and a London house with colourful concrete interiors.

Our lookbooks this week were ten kitchens with islands that make food preparation easier and more enjoyable and ten bright and bold interiors that make use of colour theory.

This week on Dezeen is our regular roundup of the week's top news stories. Subscribe to our newsletters to be sure you don't miss anything.