NEW NOMADS INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A SINKING CITY
• BLAKE MCDOUGALL •
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//CONTENTS _p6 _p10 _p10
Brief Context The Site
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Developing an Ideology
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Concept Development
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Schematic Design _p11
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VENICE. An emerging architectural language based on
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Environment.
A Future Venice As the city sinks and the oceans rise, the city of Venice works to defends itself from the coming flood. Predicted to fail within the next 50 years, the Monolithic display of human wealth & resilience [MOSE flood prevention system] operates as a last line of defence for the city to retain in its former state. Although providing transient refuge for the image of Venice, beyond the surface, the city will undergo a greater transformation than at first inspection. With more frequent flooding and stagnating waters from a newly isolated lagoon, life in the city will become even more intolerable for the last remaining locals. In order to survive the city must reconsider what was once valued, and undergo a radical transformation in order to adapt and evolve in this new world. An important vehicle in the communication of climate issues within its historically and politically significant context of Venice, the project will highlight existing socio-political undercurrents throughout the city whilst explore possible class reactions. The recent parallels between Venice and Australia exposea lack of climate change action, making their respective unstoppable changing contexts an appropriate medium for investigation, including building as a way to explore possible futures, and socio-economic problems of the present.
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// CONTEXT
New Nomads. With sinking foundations and sea levels rising, the likelihood of salvation for the city is growing more ominous. This scenario poses the question; will the city sink_or_swim in the coming decades. Building on the crumbling infrastructure found within the city of Venice, in the year 2070 a new form of reactionary urbanism is a medium through which the role of anarchy in architecture may be a means for urban reform. As the final days of the MOSE barrier reach their conclusion, the venetian masses decide to embrace the city's new fate. No longer viable, the MOSE is then dismantled, utilising its industrial salvage within the new hybrid urban fabric.
Illustrating a relentless pursuit to maintain the status quo without regard for climate adversity, a reactionary response to themes of tourism, opulance and lack of amenity provide the political and economic incentive to abandon business as usuall. Triggering the resulting architectural outcomes, The project will explore the role of community ownership in the aftermath of climate disaster. As new and datums arise, buildings as well as the urban fabric of venice must also evolve and adapt to overcome this changing landscape. Building on the sociopolitical unrest within a vanishing lower class, a reactionary approach to a vanishing architectural heritage takes the form of a structural machine interface, weaving between the commodified architecture of the past and an adaptive architecture of the future. Investigating the current socio_ political climate of Venice at both a micro and macro scale, The project will highlight the hypothetical approach of the former venitian, taking the form of a contrasting new kind of informal architectural evolution. Posing a reactionary approach to a new kind of necessary urbanism, delving into a grim future for the city of Venice. A self_built vernacular by and for the people aims to provide a salvation in the face of complaciancy.
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Between growing tensions within fragments of the Venetian populous, each arguing and posing measures for the coming flood, there exist many reactionary movements, forming in parallel and in direct criticism to the current government and the M.O.S.E. project. A temporary measure to a permanent problem, outdated in 50 years the flood barrier only acts to cushion a far more damaging future. Within the reactionary splinter cells of Venice a new ideology emerges. City officials backed by the Italian government have quietly appropriated significant sums of money separate from the gates project to improve the infrastructure of the historic centre. Restoring bridges and fountains, raising fondamente, and sidewalks along the canals and edges of the surrounding lagoon to levels above routine high-water marks. Embracing and distorting the existing technology adopted within the of the ranks of the wealthy, used as a utilitarian tool in the raising of architectural heritage in the name of conservation. Attempting to commodity the virgin, unblemished context of the old world, structure, technology, and machinery are concealed in the name of conservation. Ignoring the synthetic, destructive
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// BUILT LANGUAGE
A Hybrid Architecture. nature of which intervention brings. By appropriating the technology of the wealthy, the masses must form a new hybrid language of built heritage in order to survive. Generated by differing creeds and ideals transformative structure is embraced and expressed in order to serve attitudes in the new world. The connection between the old and new is not intended to be ignored or forgotten, but operate as an intermediate between the unique architectural heritage of Venice servicing the sites new datum's. Functioning as a new language for the future survival of Venice, an infrastructure typology which preserves and services the past signifiers which the Venetian holds dear, whilst also embracing the technology necessary to facilitate to Venice's future. By integrating and exposing this new language of heritage preservation, structure is exposed and expressed as a new evolution of the existing and treasured built heritage. Utilising the existing as an extension of the voice of the masses, this non-sacred approach to heritage allows for the adoption of the otherwise neglected or derelict built fabric, subject to addition, reduction, transformation and for the sake of the people.
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TOWARD A PROSTHETIC ARCHITECTURE
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Era of The Anthropocene. As predictions for the city grow more dire each passing year, salvation comes in the form of an ever changing prosthetic dependence on technology. Slowly integrating and transforming the city from within, megalithic infrastructural projects such as the M.O.S.E. have come to represent the norm of the Anthropocene. Fostered in an effort to preserve the at risk heritage of Venice, machines have come to dominate and alter the existing meaning behind these structures. Breaking whatever veil of unblemished history or untouched virginity which the image of heritage formerly conjured. Taking place within a vast historical context of change and rebirth, the city has undergone vast changes and perversions beyond that of the city’s original intent. From a city of War, Commerce, Tourism, and now the Machine, in which the era of the Anthropocene brings.
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HOW WE LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE MACHINE
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WHEN BUILDINGS CRAWLED
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The Sinking // City
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BEFORE THE FLOOD There should be no doubt that the sea level will eventually rise to a value that will not be sustainable for the lagoon and its old city, the planned mobile barriers might be able to avoid flooding for the next decades, but the sea will eventually rise to a level where even continuous closures will not be able to protect the city from flooding. The question is not if this will happen but when it will happen. UNESCO, "From Global to Regional: Local Sea Level Rise Scenarios, Focus on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Sea" 2010
It is within these radical proposals which in the attempt to solve the past and modern issues of society, there exists a blatant disregard for what came before. As the world has evolved since the years of open critique of the modernist agenda and utopian ideals, where speculation was rampant and the future was not yet set in stone, there exists an opportunity to revisit some of these ideas in a contemporary setting. Influenced by the extreme ideologies within our modern political landscape, as well as the exponential growth and impact of technology on modern life, a similar approach can be used within the context of Venice.
NEW DATUMS In its prime as a trading capital, people clamoured to live in Venice. During the Middle Ages, merchant communities from all over the Mediterranean world made a presence in Venice, ultimately establishing itself as a centre of commerce for Europe. Increasing exponentially in power and wealth the city adapted to fill demand. As populations grew canals turned to streets and streets to houses, consuming an ever evolving landscape without remorse. Continuing throughout the decades, in a modern context land has become a commodity only accessible to rich, with local residents slowly forced to move back to the mainland. Building on already high tensions between the government and the lower class, the fate of Venice is in jeopardy. Growing global emissions as well as rising temperatures, the future of the lagoon is predicted to change dramatically in the coming decades. With sea levels potentially rising over 1m by the year 2100, the prospects of Venice may be underwater. Having a dramatic environmental and economic impact on the city, the government has resorted to various desperate plans for mitigation. Following the exceptionally high Aqua Alta of 1966, the Italian government passed an unprecedented law governing "the preservation of Venice and its lagoon." In order to fulfil the scope of the law, measures were to be put into place to ensure Venice had a
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water level compatible with both the delicate ecosystem and morphology of the lagoon and the architectural heritage of the city. With water quality within the lagoon predicted to plummet, limited public circulation and damaged building structure, various measures have been proposed to lessen the crisis. A part of Venetian life since its conception, various measures of flood mitigation have been a consideration of the city's architecture and its built fabric. A temporary device used to protect buildings and their valuables, the Partie act as flood barriers placed at doors and windows, aided by modern pumps bailing extra water. However, in recent decades as tides have risen to unprecedented levels, these devices are at their limits grown unable to prevent further flood damage. From injecting sea water beneath the city to raise its foundations, to constructing footings in order to lift important architectural heritage, the M.O.S.E. flood barriers are now the city's last line of defence.
M.O.S.E. Anchored to the seabed, an elaborate system of giant metal barriers 24 meters high rise together to enclose the lagoon. Constructed in order to be opened and closed during high tides, the barriers aren't without their flaws. As sea levels are expected to rise beyond early predictions, the M.O.S.E. may become outdated as early as 2050. Against the will of the masses, in order to protect the city as average sea levels adjust, these barriers are expected to remain closed, permanently restricting circulation as water quality in the lagoon deteriorates. Providing a fragment of false hope for the city, the barriers are only a short-term solution to a much greater problem. As populations increase and pollution is rising, the temporary measure may only be distracting the city from finding a permanent solution to the growing crisis around the world.
Erlich, Leandro. "Inhabitat." Inhabitat (blog), n.d.
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THE SITE
// Scoula Grande Della Misericordia
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Located prominently within Cannaregio, on the Rio di Noale canal, one of the last remaining residential districts of Venezia, a historic fragment of juxtaposing venetian excess and generosity. Occupying a complex social position, Scuola Grande della Misericordia (The Grand School of Mercy) is one of Seven "Scuola Grande"commissioned in 1508. Founded by an institution of wealthy merchants and religious representatives, the building operated as an extension of the active and wealthy albeit powerless class. Playing an important role in the social, political and religious fabric of the city, acting as an essential source of social welfare for the city's inhabitants, the Schools were created as an attempt to address poverty in the city centre. Financing works of charity, like hospitals, houses for confraternity members, food handouts and other charitable actions, the schools functioned to serve the poorest in society.
project over to a Florentine architect by the name of Jacopo Sansovino. Heavily influenced by Roman classicism, he redesigned the structure into an imposing quadrangular block. Its interiors were decorated with artworks worthy of a grand Venetian school, and included paintings and frescos by Veronese, Zanchi, Lazzarini, Pellegrini and Domenico Tintoretto, son of the famous master, Jacopo Tintoretto. Aiming for the building to convey and represent their ambition and in perticular their social class, Sansovino was determined to use a renaissance language not accassable to patricians, who were not allowed to use it in respect of the modesty imposed by their political office. Facing budgetary constraints due to the newly redesigned extravagant faรงade and richly decorated interior, the buildings facade was left bare, leaving the exposed masonry structure instead of slate and marble as originally intended.
Right from the outset, the members of the confraternity revealed their impressive architectural ambitions for the project_a majestic building, the reputation of which would spread beyond the borders of the city, not only within Italy, but across all of Christendom. Intended to become a significant landmark, built completely out of scale with the buildings in it's surrounding context, the Scuola was designed with a soaring gothic structure and a majestic design. Decidedly too grandiose for the city, construction progressed intermittently before finally grinding to a halt due to budget issues. In around 1527, Doge Andrea Gritti handed the "Scuola Nuova" (New School)
From the early 19th century onwards the school had a rather chequered history. First it was used as a military barracks, then as a warehouse and finally as a state archive. From 1914 onwards it was home to the wealthy silk weavers guild before housing a famous sport and education centre for the Costantino Reyer gymnastics company, ultimately shaping the its reputation into a temple of Venetian sport. Currently serving as a public events space, within an already densely populated gallery and arts district, the building is neighboured by similarly historically rich structures such as the deconsecrated church of Campo del l'Abazia, as well as the Abbazia della Misericordia.
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Developing an // Ideology
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// Parasitic /pa ¡ ruh ¡ si ¡ tuhk/ An organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it sustains itself.
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Denoting an artificial substitute or replacement of a body part, such as a limb, a heart, or a breast implant, designed for functional or cosmetic reasons or both. /pros ¡ theh ¡ tuhk/
Prosthetic //
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ANARCHITECTURE Fundamentally at odds with the ideals of anarchy, the practice of architecture is dependant on an omniscient hierarchy of rules and regulations, already pre-determined to produce the; safe, desirable, sexy, predictable, profitable, cheapest, functional, logical, redundant, discarded, invisible - an outcome which we call architecture today. A system which we have convinced ourselves is the only one which can function to benefit society. Would an architecture not bound by time frame, budget or brief, and not restricted according to safety, money and law have the catastrophic effect we have been led to believe? Anarchism speculates hat architecture has played a significant role in the production of the corporate city, and as such contributes to a set of values (of whatever sort, political or commercial) which do not value basic human needs, and tend to diminish cultural and social freedom.
History Typically, the history of anarchy in architecture is thought to primarily have taken place within the fringes of society, often inspired by social and political pressures dividing or bringing together segments within tight-nit likeminded communities. Although according to the UN Urban Observatory, by 2020, up to 50% of the total population living in cities across the world will be housed in informal settlements - self-built cities of breeze-blocks, crude brick, straw, mud, recycled plastic, and scrap wood. It is within these sites without rules, regulations, planners, governmental interference, and architects, that highlight how the built form can evolve. Whether economically motivated, environmental, cultural, provocative, explicitly a-political or intentionally divisive, anarchy in architecture explores the realm of architecture without architects. In this state we can understand what motivates the built form and including the impact of contributing factors such as cost, form, function and culture. When left to their own devices, how might this form of architecture evolve when in the hands of the masses.
g Occupy Venice
Within the context of Venice, a century in the making long process is taking place. With land at an all time low real estate at a premium, much of the community which used to call the city home are a dying breed. Stemming from a swelling tourism industry and a high cost of living, over the past 10 years a total of 60,000 local residents within Venice in the historic city centre has decreased to 53,000,
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set to plummet over the coming decades. Housing and amenity once accessible to the middle class and poorer communities has been gouged in price and restricted to the wealthy, with a majority of frontages within Venice often left unoccupied due to exorbitant prices. A culture of Faรงadism, where to allow for the appearance of a pristine utopian city of the past, buildings have become an imitation of their former selves, constructions of empty facades supported by hidden structure are erected in order to fill the horizon, devoid of locals and their culture. A corporate playground, the city of Venice has become a mirror image of the consumer's desire, serving to the maximise profits and desires which the tourism industry has created. Inadvertently creating a symbiotic relationship in which each depends on the other in order to survive. Pushed out of the market and preferential treatment given to tourists, lower income households have been forced to abandon the city and move to the mainland. The Assemblea Sociale per la Casa (ASC, or Social Assembly for the House) a grassroots movement fighting the depopulation of the city, is the last line of defence seeking to reduce the power imbalance within the lower class. Nicola Ussardi, a local salesman who co-founded ASC, says the first demonstrations attracted a large number of people who had previously been apolitical, exposing "a sign that housing is a serious problem in Venice". Last month ASC successfully blocked the eviction of a woman from her home of 50 years. "The owner wanted to kick her out in order to make a bed and breakfast, despite the fact that he already owned two in the same building," says Ussardi. "The evicted resident is the new symbol of this city. Residents are almost becoming the enemy of the owners, who prefer to rent to tourists." In favour of the many who have already lost their homes, ASC activists have dedicated their time in protest to fixing abandoned, dilapidated houses for occupation. In six years they have taken over 70 apartments across the working class neighbourhoods of Cannarego and Giudecca, hosting over 150 people, including families, singles and young couples. Although the occupations are illegal, Ussardi is proud of what ASC has accomplished, stating "We do not steal the house from anyone - we chose apartments that have been abandoned for years and are full of mould and rats." As protests toward the growing power class escalate its uncertain how much longer the community can refuse to abandon the iconic but expensive city, but as long as this imbalance continues the situation will continue to grow more dire.
ARCHITECTURE IN PROTEST
Matta-Clark, Gordon. Splitting. New York: Loft Press, 1974.
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Matta-Clark, Gordon. Splitting. New York: Loft Press, 1974.
Gordon Matta-Clark. Splitting Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978), who trained originally as an architect, is best known for his work 'building cuts', often seen as an outright rejection of the architectural profession. Known under the collaborative project name Anarchitecture (1974), Gordon's work aimed to critique the prevailing language of modernism, in particular the ideas presented within "Towards a New Architecture" by the French modernist artist and architect Le Corbusier. Roaming the streets with a blow torch and a crowbar, the self professed anarchitect sought out industrial wastelands and inner city ghettos in order to greater expose the growing problems within urbanism of the time. Commenting on the dissolution of the American family and calling attention to society's failure to provide adequate housing, Gordon's work was intensely political in nature, aiming to highlight the failures of capitalism and modernist architecture within a failing economy. In his home state the derelict sites of New York were the fertile grounds in which to provide a social commentary. Evolving from an environment dissolution, disillusionment, and protest, his works act in response to existing buildings, in which walls, floors, and ceilings were not sacrosanct, but subjects of destructive investigation.
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Matta-Clark, Gordon. Splitting. New York: Loft Press, 1974.
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Matta-Clark, Gordon. Splitting. New York: Loft Press, 1974.
Extinction Rebellion, "The Peoples Podium.". 2019.
Extinction Rebellion. Retaking the City We are facing an unprecedented global climate emergency. The government has failed to protect us. Life on Earth is in crisis: scientists agree we have entered a period of abrupt climate breakdown, and we are in the midst of a mass extinction of our own making. To survive, it's going to take everything we've got. On the back of the alarming warnings coming from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in late-2018, the emerging movement extinction rebellion (XR) has sought to raise awareness of the likely effects of climate change, as well as confront governments with their responsibility to act decisively and quickly. Established in Britain by 15 academics in May 2018, the protests use well organised rallies of large groups to hijack and ‘retake’ populated urban spaces, normally given over to petrolguzzling vehicles and transform them into temporary encampments open to all. Utilising controversial tactics including publicising arrests in order to bring attention to their cause. Some of their most notable demonstrations, causing major disruption the group blockaded Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square, Oxford Circus and Marble Arch, as well as engaging in other smallerscale actions, with 1,000 activists arrested by the Metropolitan Police over the coming days. Although the group has faced its criticisms, even if only temporary XR has shown the power which transforming public space and disrupting the established infrastructure can have on the zeitgeist, ultimately promoting their vision of a more hopeful future.
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Dobraszczyk, Paul. "La ZAD." Ragpicking History (blog), 2017
La ZAD.
Defending the Commons
"In the first week of April 2018, over 2,500 armed French riot police, together with armoured vehicles and demolition machines, attempted to level a vast protest camp spread out over 2,000 hectares: the site of a proposed airport at Notre-Dames-desLandes near the city of Nantes." An example of architecture in protest, a group of protesters occupying the site of a proposed airport remained since 2009, comprising a decadelong existence as an anarchist commune. Made up of up to 250 members in 80 separate collectives, the group became obsessed with developing alternative, sustainable ways of living than simply a protest against airport expansion. The subject of a fierce opposition since it was first put forward in 1957, the protest was a success after the airport plan had finally been shelved by the French government in January 2017. Having already tried to evict the squatters in a major police operation in early October 2016, but being met by 40,000 additional protestors from all across France, the police returned in April 2018 in much greater numbers and with a blanket ban on news reporting of the eviction. Using tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets, protestors "footage of the eviction suggests a war zone " the police vehicles demolishing many of the dozens of self-built structures in seconds, the black-clad protestors wearing gas masks fighting the police in darkness using molotov cocktails, slingshots and even lasers.
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"The occupiers had named the site La ZAD - zone Ă dĂŠfendre meaning "zone to defend", a subversive reworking of the acronym used to
describe sites for redevelopment in France (zone d'ameragement differe, meaning "designated construction area"). Beginning as a result of the global Camp for Climate Action protests in 2009. An occupation that was both an explicit protest against airport expansion and its destructive effects on both the environment and global climate and also an opportunity to develop greener lifestyles. The site was organised along principles of horizontal decision-making and mutual aid first set out by Peter Kropotkin in his 1902 book Mutual Aid. One of the largest and longest-lasting protest sites in recent history, the many structures built at the ZAD drew on different tactics of occupation: the earliest homes were treehouses derived from the anti-roads protests of the 1990s; later, particularly after the removal of many treehouses in the 2013 police operation, more substantial structures were built, including an infirmary, timber-framed barn, information centre, meeting rooms, climbing wall, brewery, library, bakeries, boxing gym, pirate radio station, and a play centre for children. Around the edges of the site were barricades and several observation towers that served as lookout posts for the occupiers. What's unusual about the ZAD is not that it was crushed with all the violence the state could muster, but rather that this final action came a significant time after the decision was made to abandon the airport project. It seems that what the French state could not countenance was an occupation for its own sake - the continuation of a genuine alternative
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to top-down government in the pocket of neoliberal capitalism.
- Dobraszczyk, Paul
Dobraszczyk, Paul. "Ragpicking History." Ragpicking History (blog), n.d. https://ragpickinghistory.co.uk/2019/09/12/la-zad-defending-the-commons/.
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Evolving // Typologies
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Vestages of the Past
Operations & Appropriation in the Modern Context The social strata, building typologies and infrastructural systems which made the city of Venice a pioneer and superpower in the old world remain today in a vastly different form to what they once were. Retaining their physical form as signifiers of their past, meaning has been adapted to fit within a new modern context. The scheme aims to reflect these signifiers of the past within elements of building function and built form, appropriating and distorting past iconography of Venice in order to allow the former venetian to reinterpret and understand these recognisable signifiers within a new context. Serving as the footings by which a new world is built, these vestiges of the past take the form of the recognisable artefacts and defunct typologies that make the canals of Venice unique.
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Gold, Kerry, n.d. http://blog.kerrygoldcanada.com/?p=35.
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Culture Clash A city with its origins in the ideals of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture, these architectural languages soon became adopted and appropriated by the residents themselves. Built upon by diversity, multiculturalism, and conquered cultures, incorporated within the built fabric of the city artefacts from cultures throughout the globe are hidden in plain sight. Taking the form of sculptures, war trophies, products of trade, these curiosities helped to form the heterogeneous architecture of Venice, providing fodder for tourists as well as uniquely defining the hybrid nature of Venice's built fabric.
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Cisterns In the Old World Once the foundation of technological innovation and infrastructure, located within the lagoon a city rising from water unexpectedly had no source of clean drinking water. Ever since one of the greatest achievements of self sufficiency and sustainability had been devised in order to solve this problem. Using town squares as cisterns, residents had a sense of ownership, able to collect and filter rain water in a public setting fostering social interaction and community. As hundreds of these rain-collection systems provided drinking water for Venetians in their own island communities, pressure from environmental issues required ultimately in 1884 the government of Italy opened an aqueduct to the city, bringing water in from nearby mountains. As of today these cisterns act as the only remaining as vestiges of a megalithic infrastructural system that once was.
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Pulpits & Ambos An extension of the many mouthpieces of the ruling class, throughout the 15th century public religious preaching had become a dominant cultural and architectural element within the city of Venice. Integrated within the city fabric itself, preaching friars thrusting their opinions on the masses with their faith and rhetoric, using status and authority as a clear underlying component of their performance. Elevated from the crowds, these performances would take place using artificial structures, using pulpits and ambos preachers were raised from their fellow man and given respect and attention. As temporary structures designed to be moved back and fourth between public spaces, few have survived the following centuries. Today the few that remain are located in places of power, where pulpits were as extravagant and highly architectural as the churches and basilica which house them. These relics are now rarely used for their intended purpose, limited to exhibits and holy sites for tourists.
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The Garden Market With land in such limited quantity within the lagoon, planners for the city made certain to include allowances for ample green space. Taking the form of grand green spaces reflective of status all the way to humble personal and gardens and vegetable plots. Known as campi (fields) these green spaces allowed for residences to harvest and sell their crops in the local markets, generating visual amenity whilst also contributing to the economy. Today the modern venetian aims to continue in these traditions with the remainder of these spaces still in use, while many of the smaller areas were paved over in order to make more space for traffic and circulation.
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False Ceilings The Ceiling as a Stratification of Art Forms The use of surfaces within the Venetian context has become a well understood medium through which opulent decoration and personalisation are used as a tool to represent the wealth and status of their owners. However in the case of the ceiling, this trend towards a language of ornament popularised by the baroque remained only attainable by the wealthy, extended from the public arenas all the way to private dwellings. As these markers of artistic skill and status grew in desire within the lower class, a more accessible alternative was sought after. A less expensive construction of a standard plaster based drop ceiling became available to the masses. These stuccos, no longer limited by the constraints of the typical urban form, allowed the lower class using drop and false ceilings allowed opportunity for purely ornamental surfaces. This trend toward frescoed ceilings soon became a trend to identify the city of Venice the world over, with notable examples such as the Doge's Palace and Palazzo Albrizzi famous for their extravagance and luxury.
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The Altana As ever since its conception land had always been at a premium within the limits of Venice, generating some of the most unique solutions to space use seen the world over. The altana (small wooden structures built atop existing Venetian residences) reached through a special dormer window these structures provided what was already scarce in the lagoon, allowing for open space and ventilation above the cityscape. Providing allowing a space for dryers to bring their fabrics to air after colouring, as well as daily laundry. Although originally intended to serve a passive purpose, the use of the altana had adapted to become a defensive measure, used to repel air forces during the First World War. Often unstable or condemned today, many of these structures are in need of restoration in order to be used for their original purpose, often left to rot as a spectacle for tourists, and only signifying their past use.
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Architecture and Social Discourse Public courts and squares were often used as places of social gathering and discourse, valuable places forming bonds within the venetian populous and the tight communities between each island. Offering insight into valuable moments in history, these spaces were the stage for public announcement, proselytizing, gossip, and protest. Utilising court walls for declarations and even underhand communication of information, such examples include the Fondamenta de l'Abazia courtyard, where gossip would be spread through notes wedged between cracks in the square walls, or the Dieci message drops installed in the 14th century, where which residents would inform on one another through the anonymous drop points.
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// ARCHIVINGII THE PAST The Portal.
Link to Past / Future Heritage The Portal serves as a didactic precursor to the themes, attitudes and agency of TERRA/AQUA, using the current socio/ political climate of present day to communicate of the larger scope and possible futures of the TERRA/AQUA project. The contents of the reading room are to be a direct digital link to the themes and agency of the TERRA/AQUA project, with potential for the building to evolve over time with the city and eventually locate itself amongst the scheme. Building on tactics of spatial occupation and provocation seen from existing Venetian protest groups, the Portal uses these conventions to contrast and confront the worsening state of the city's heritage. A growing palimpsest of Venice's decay, the Portal is intended as a place of sensory experience/refuge for visitors using simulated exposure and to potential futures. Presented as an archive for built heritage, data, and knowledge, the pavilion is designed to be implemented across various sites, placed in a public environment the pavilion is intended to be built upon and appropriated over time and in new contexts. Categorising and archiving at risk elements of Venice's built heritage, the Portal then functions as a vehicle to communicate heritage conservation through didactic displays. Appropriating existing ruin and artefact meaningful to Venice's built heritage, physical conservation of built heritage is considered in contrast to the digital, highlighting the potential threat and current state of mass heritage conservation in the city today. Adapted and used within the post flood context, this structure is then adopted and built upon to facilitate the wider pressures of heritage conservation throughout a future Venice.
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WHAT. WHY. HOW.
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PROGRAM // _THE NEW PARLIAMENT
_PORTAL OF LOST HERITAGE _VOX POPULI // THE NEW PODIUM _HERITAGE INFRASTRUCTURAL INTERVENTION _CIRCULATION ARTERIES _AGRICULTURAL SUPER_IMPOSITIONS _HOUSING: TEMPORARY SELF_BUILT, PARASITIC, MASS, SALVAGE, INFILL
READING ROOM _ PROGRAM
AGENCY //
_CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION _HABITAT LOSS _WEALTH / POVERTY _LOCALS / TOURISM _CORRUPTION _TEMPORALITY _PROTECTIVE CONSERVATION
TACTICS //
_WEAVING OF MECHANICAL STRUCTURE AND HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE _INFRASTRUCTURE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY _DISPLAYS OF WEALTH _CORRUPTION OF THE TRADITIONAL IN FAVOR OF SURVIVAL _ADAPTION _CLASS DISPARITY _TACTICAL CONSERVATION _ARTIFICIAL FACADES _ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE
_PORTAL _200m2 _THE READING ROOM _50m2 _REPOSITORY OF BUILT HERITAGE _50m2 _CARETAKERS DWELLING _100m2 _UTLITY _50m2
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Stage 2 // Portal
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Portal to the Rio Di Noale p80_
Designed to be assembled in short periods across a variety of terrains, the portal can be implemented within public spaces as a didactic portal and archive of Venice’s at risk built heritage. Located within the current at risk heritage site of St Marks Square, the building can evolve over time to be implemented across other sites in a perpetual state of occupation and construction, added to through environmental pressures and informal structures.
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Reconstructing Lost Heritage, Memories, Realities Located within a context of one of the most photographed cities on earth, while the physical built heritage of Venice remains under a constant and real threat, there exists a digital archive waiting to be uncovered. A function of the archive, unaware or attracted users to the portal are encouraged to share and deposit their digital media. Contributing to a crowdsourced community project, each piece of photo or video evidence documenting the existence of the city, contributes to a macro scale snapshot of what and how the city exists in that time. Creating a continuously fluctuating palimpsest of how the city has evolved over the technological era, the digital archive will subsequently function as a tool in the future for viewing and understanding how the subtle gradual changes to infrastructure and heritage across the city ultimately generate significant impact over time.
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Embracing Technology. The Temporal Machine Interface Generating Data... Rio_ Di_Noale Reconstruction... Segment C13 RDN C:// data a13 reconstructed Access Date: 2070 Progress 78% Run.// GIS Layers >IMG.005433 ... v >IMG.005434 ... v >IMG.005435 ... v >IMG.005436 ... v >IMG.005437 ... In Progress
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Machine_Heritage_Interface // Digital_Mixed_Media_Collage
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// RECONCILING THE VENETIAN TYPOLOGY
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ICONIC VENETIAN TYPOLOGIES
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REPRESENTATION IN THE DIGITAL RELM //
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MASTERPLANNING FOR A CHANGING CONTEXT //
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p124_ Site Plan // 1 : 2500
PRESENT & EXISTING BUILT FABRIC
DI
IGITAL REPRESENTATION OF PAST
POSSIBLE FUTURES
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New Circulation
Evolving Typologies
Digital Archive of the Past
Present Context
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RESIDENTIAL FORECOURT ARCHIVE NEW SENATE PODIUM
Programming
Old & New Operations Taking place within the post-flood remnants of iconic Venetian architectural typologies, new operations imposed across past heritage transform the previously sacred in favour of the profane. Taking the form of a new parliament run for and by the people, following the crisis a new approach must be adopted in order to salvage at risk buildings as well as cultural values within the built fabric of Venice. With the aim of governing new and old developments, a senate made by the masses come together to appreciate and make decisions regarding the fate of their Venetian architectural heritage. Predominantly imposed within the culturally rich walls of former Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a senate hall overseen by elected speakers is the background for a digital gallery and archive. Drawing from past civic ritual, providing a link to locals a new podium is necessary to communicate these changes to the masses. This Civic component is then integrated and adopted within small and medium density
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novel residential strategies. Providing a connection between programs, a new infrastructural datum above sea level will take the place of what was once taken for granted. As sea levels rise existing paths, bridges, and courts will become submerged, presenting the need for a new dry substrate trafficable by pedestrians. These pathways will allow greater pollination between districts.
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Residential Strategy Site A
Constructed using a pallet of raw inexpensive materials often reserved for use as well as salvaged and discarded building materials, a self built component of multi-density residential program forms a scaffolding encasing selected built heritage through the canal. Strewn from the remnants of degrading Venetian urban fabric unable to fulfil its original potential, activists approach with an anarchic and revolutionary attitude to the lost potential of past built form. Embracing the newly flooded context which locals are forced to inhabit, a new layer of pedestrian infrastructure provides easier circulation and during flooding, whilst integrated agricultural interventions to support independence and self sustainability. Forming a network of Venetians exiled from their city, using temporary scaffolding and precarious structure they return with a vengeance.
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The Forecourt Site B
Serving as a forum and a junction for the democratic program of the senate, functioning as a public meeting place, the forecourt is centred around the obsolete architectural remnants of Venice's past. Enclosing one of the many abandoned well heads signifying an entrance the city's cisterns, the existing court which once served the public functions as a marker of past use. Drawing from historic Venitian communal practices and public typologies, the forecourt provides a return to informal public discourse. An anonymous tapistry for people to return and contribute to, the facade is adorned with a medium to allow people to air their grievances and influence potential legislation. Using instinctive references to venetian architectural typologies, the forecourt takes the form of a digital archive and journey through these traces of Venice's history.
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The New Senate Site C
Forming a civic response to the coming crisis, locals and stakeholders for the built fabric of Venice co-opt the underutilized post flood landscape. Located within the halls of the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a rich history of past use serves as the backdrop for a new senate, allowing for residents to self legislate, debate, and make decisions regarding the fate of Venice's heritage built fabric. Taking place within this context, an overlaid gallery and archive operate outside senate hours, changing form to conform to its occupancy.
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The Podium Site D
Serving as a vestige to the past communal practices of Venice, the podium acts to provide a voice to the people and allow for the commoner to communicate to the masses. Acting as the Vox Populi for the judgments of the senate and governing bodies of Venice, the podium extends and overlooks the Rio Di Noale canal and provides access and reach to the populous in a manner know to the past. The final destination in the journey of lost heritage, users are given a chance to reflect and reconcile what it is we value most from architectural heritage and what we can afford to keep. These allow for users to become better informed and participate in the governing of the city in a more direct and tangible way.
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p138_ Archive of Lost Heritage
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Section A // Scale 1:200
1:200 Scale // Section B
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EXITING SHUTTERS METAMORPHOSIS
SKYLIGHT ARMATURES
MACHINE INTERFACE - CIRCULATION
STRUCTURAL INTERFACE
NEW PROGRAM & DEVELOPMENT
EXISTING TYPOLOGY & MEANING
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p157_ Archive Section // 1 : 100
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p162_ Civic Plan // 1 : 500
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p164_ Podium Plan // 1 : 200
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p168_ North Forecourt Elevation // Scale 1 : 100
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p170_ West Forecourt Elevation // Scale 1 : 100
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p172_ West Forecourt Section // Scale 1 : 100
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p174_ Senate West Elevation // Scale 1 : 100
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p176_ Senate Section // Scale 1 : 100
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p178_ West Podium Elevation // Scale 1 : 100
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p180_ Podium Section // Scale 1 : 100
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p182_ Podium Elevation // Scale 1 : 100
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p186_ Demountable Construction
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p196_ Spolia Detail
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// Rio Di Noale Model Construction
// Scale: // Materials _ MDF _ Acrylic _ Steel Structure _ Brass Sheet _ Tin Sheet _ PLA
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1:500
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