Name: Minh Duc Le ID: 10042812 Humanities Assignment: City visited: Venice, Italy Street as public space - Investigation and speculative study of Venetian conception Group members: Jing Wendy Wen Jonathan Wong Le Minh Duc Ahmad Hakym Ahmad Hilmy ChaiYun Chung Shenpei Ha
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An Introduction of a conclusion to Venice Venice needs no introduction, it has inspired many artists, directors, dancers, etc… the list goes on; and as for those who are world weary, the city is an expression of melancholy and disillusionment, a possible escape of the recent economical past; and as it has been for the past by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic era. The city also the centre for many scholars travelling the Grand Tour, primarily exposing themselves to classical antiquity, Renaissance and the arts; however – turning back to modernity, a reason for us to pay a visit to Venice is as simple as its magic: being a floating city. Viewing the city from afar, many would agree that the floating city is the epitome of purity and beauty; giving off an image that is foreign once we have returned to our own bust city streets. As such, the diversity of architecture style and unique mode of infrastructure that Venice displays that enable the city to operate as a piece of art lures scholars of today to study its urbanism and architecture. So as to why we choose Venice to explore, the reason is the same and simple: we also have our version of Venice in our minds. And since childhood, the group collectively has preconception of what Venice is. We see it through our own eyes our dream and image of Venice. And standing in Venice provides that opportunity. However, though the course of the travel, we soon see a disparity of our preconception and what Venice is actually is. Namely, the disappointment that some of us had – and tourists also – experienced when the city is filled with stalls, and at every corner, a souvenir merchant are willing to ambush you with gifts and trinkets. Though some of us had also had good experiences, way finding in Venice is absurdly easy and the food in far from being just ‘okay’. These
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contrasting experiences soon find itself a good discussion point for us, and raised up many heated debates in our hotel rooms. The following collection of essay attempts to understand this disparity, however each using a unique eye in viewing this dream filled city. Following the framework of established architects, theorists, builders and urban planners, each of these essays will explain Venice in its build ups, how did it come about? What makes it now? And is it still – as we know it now – still a dream filled city? The first essay will highlight about is the streets, the collective space you will find all over the world; streets are the main component of any urban being. They present the organization on which intertwine the "complex interaction of architectural fabric and human organisation" (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). Being the creative result of design and convergence of social activities at the same time, streets present a wide spectrum of questions on urban spaces to historians and theorists. Their conception ranges from the most incremental and unplanned urban interventions to the technically manufactured civic works, which involve complicated engineering and landscaping (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). The case study of streets in Venice is particularly intriguing and challenging to scholars not only because the urban form of Venice presents a pattern that is seemingly spontaneous and unprecedented, but also because that the conception of Venetian street was never fully documented. Taking Spiro Kostof's approach and analyse what he referring as 'Urban process', the short essay by Minh Duc Le will explore Venice's formation through the observational and theoretical studies of three unique types of street in Venice, namely; Calle ( small, narrow back alley street), Fondamenta (long street that runs along canal) and Campo (open field or square ) . By
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exploring these urban spaces and the urban processes, which take place within their bounds, he attempts to hypothesise the conception of Venetian urban form and subsequently answer the question of what makes Venice what it is. In support of that, Hakym Hilmey's part of essay took inspiration from how John Ruskin's excitement towards seeing Venice on his first sight, which made him so curious, leading him to a very thorough investigation on each and every details of Venice’s fabric through 3 volumes of Stones of Venice. Although however it led to a disappointment to him knowing that the city's treasury of buildings so abused and neglected that it would melt into the lagoon, "like a lump of sugar in hot tea", it is still undeniable that every soul who put their feet in Venice will mesmerize with the beauty of what they are seeing. Concentrating on Gordon Cullen’s method of looking at small towns appeared as sequences of spaces and analysing serial perspectives, in this investigation, Venice was assessed through the list of qualities shown in Cullen’s article Place in the his book The Concise Townscape. With his methodology that involves visual analysis, we can identify the elements that resemble the impression of Venice as beautiful. In the essay, Hakym applied the three concerns that relate with the elements that composed as the townscape of Venice which produced emotional reactions towards the individuals namely; OPTICS concern, PLACE concern as well as CONTENT concern as what outlined by Cullen in the book. Through these concerns we can identify on how Venice townscape become closely related to the meaning of beauty. The third essay by Jonathan Wong would view Venice though a modernist’s eye, comparing closely the city to Utopia schemes of modernist masters such as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright; interrogating the disparity of these utopian schemes as well as modern cities to Venice.
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A common debate point that came across us is the amount of ecology that is available to the local residence. Some sides with that Venice has very little ‘open ecological space’ due to the amount of parks, whereas some sides with that Venice is abundant in its ecological space – it is a city built of open waters after all. Many architects and urbanist’s dream of build another version of Venice as part of their eco-polis projects, a city that is surrounded by sufficient amount of green space and the water, that runs by pollution-free power generation facilities, that breathes with all the other species in its ecosystem. Venice; the city that successfully designed against the nature and survived for centuries, still the land of inspiration, the oldest floating city and the heritage of UNESCO; was in fact a self-sufficient city in the past. However, given the condition Venice has to grow on, and the rapid climate change that makes extreme weather more frequent, it can be said that Venice is limited on its ecology. Chai Yun Chung explores the past and present ecological issues below using the residence’s eye: closely examining it in a various scale. As such, the city rides on these popularity is has built up over the centuries, giving the city its romanticised status. Though Venice has starting to become to what we know as a ‘Tourist Trap’; certain objects of the city are unavoidable in what seemingly tourists have a choice over. In what Venice has become soon became an artificial experience of Venice, almost orchestrated by tourist boards. The short essay by Shenpei ha examines the Life – how Venice gain its identity – and death – how the city destroys this identity – of Venice through dissection of photos and section, following the framework of Jane Jacob’s essay on the life and death of Great American cities. Going back on point of discussion of ecology, similar conclusion can be drawn from that Venice is a city constantly facing challenges such as flooding and tourism. Thus, there is
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not yet a clear answer to the further ecological challenges that the city is facing. The only thing that is guaranteed is, it will need full cooperation of the local’s working towards sustainability in broader scale. Undoubtedly, the city is turning into a museum city that drives the residence away. The formal glory and the beauty of the city only contributed to its degrowth which further accelerated city’s decay. A life that is mostly dependent on service industry with extreme profit oriented mentality will not bring the city’s ecology back. The geographical and ecological challenges that they are facing will require its full support from communities. The empty houses and population needs to be distributed for sustainable territories that can be micro managed. The city needs to promote and reclaim other industries like universities, not the cruise ships that invade every inch of city’s ecology and sustainability. But then again, it was the Venetians that challenged the boundary of human limitation. They are the one that created sustainability most effectively onto the nature’s instability. Perhaps, they will go through this crisis wiser than ever and teach another lesson to all of us and maybe the project MOSE will perform another miracle as he once did in bible. Whatever the consequences, we will learn from her again. Arriving from the sea is the most popular way tourists get to Venice. Beneath their path, it is the same journey that commerce enters the city centuries ago, making Venice the way it is. Strip of water piercing through centre of Venice, bring it fortune and fame, presents a similar image of Las Vegas, the glamorous hotel by the side, ready to hop on transportations (gondolas). Indeed, Venice presented a lot of similar footsteps by Vegas. To be appeal to tourist, Venice quickly equips itself with modern shopping district and high end hotels. Besides the water bed, Venice also introduced in land "strips" to attract
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more visitors. These "strips"(Venturi, 1977) were quick developments, tourist focused and local unfriendly. The new business has driven local business and local life further away from the "strip", hidden away from visitor's sight. The quick conversion is leaving the shell of the city the only left behind symbol of Venice, leaving Venice a "duck"(Venturi, 1977), something that is symbolic form of an appearance with distorted un-functioning system within. As such, we will end this introduction to the conclusion of Venice. And hopefully by the course of reading this essay, questions – rather answers – are raised in what Venice really is, and perhaps it has not become what we may initially perceive.
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Street as public space - Investigation and speculative study of Venetian conception
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"This is that city that astonishes the whole world ... From that desire to return to her that all who leave her carry with them she took the name of 'Venezia', almost as if she were saying with inviting sweetness to the departing guest: Veni etiam, return again" - These are the words by an old unknown Venetian writer expressing his undying love towards his city of Venice ( Lorenzetti, 2007). Just as Concina put it, " The Venice of Renaissance myth deliberately built up an image of herself as miracolosissina city, born as though from nothing"; a magical island that thrived throughout the Renaissance period to become a powerful independent state without any influence from even the mighty Rome (Concina, 1998). The story of Venice continue to be relived by the whispering of young lovers, poets or even tourists yet her actual conception has long been a fascinating case study for architects, theorists, builders and urban planners. Of all exciting aspects that conjure Venice magical essence, urban space in the form of public street remains underexplored and under-appreciated. Streets are the central component of any urban existence. They present the organization on which intertwine the "complex interaction of architectural fabric and human organisation" (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). Being the product of design and, at the same time, convergence of social activities, streets present a wide spectrum of questions on urban spaces to historians and theorists (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). Their formations range from the most incremental and unplanned urban interventions to the technically manufactured civic works, which
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involve complicated engineering and landscaping (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). The case study of streets in Venice is particularly intriguing and challenging to scholars, not only because the urban form of Venice presents a pattern that is seemingly spontaneous and unprecedented, but also because that the conception of Venetian street was never fully documented. As time went by and the Republic of Venice faced its declination, the essence of the city yet lived on and the city continued to leave a intense memory in the heart of its visitors. Be it the artistic or architectural work, the brilliant musical performance or simply a conventional daily walk through the city, the city seems to be able to maintain its unique quintessence against the flow of time. While artistic and architectural works are the culmination of ideology and craftsmanship during their respective periods, they however hold little direct value to the constantly changing present apart from being the physical proof of the city’s former glory and her people’s genius. Instead, it is in the rich experience as one entering, occupying, crossing and embracing the three-dimensional urban space that gives us the answer for what these experiences imply in the modern day. Taking Spiro Kostof's approach and analysing what he referring as 'Urban process', this essay will explore Venice's formation through the observational and theoretical studies of three unique types of street in Venice, namely; Calle ( small, narrow back alley street), Fondamenta (long street that runs along canal) and Campo (open field or square ) . By exploring these urban spaces and the urban processes within their bounds, an attempt will be made to hypothesise the conception of Venetian urban form and subsequently answer the question of what makes Venice what it is.
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As Zeynep, Diane and Richard - the editors of Street - Critical perspective as Public Space - put it, " Street are the primary ingredient of urban existence. " (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). The immediate role of street comes straight to our minds as a daily basic mean - to provide access to building and passage through urban context - simply because it is deemed to be a common sense (Kostof, 1992). Yet the fundamental nature of any street, like any other public spaces hold more underlying values than just a mere transitional ground (Kostof, 1992). Street creates a framework in which the complex relations between human and the urban fabric take place - a place of rituals and events; public squares and piazza in cities like Rome and Milan present a platform on which human actions and congregation take place, serving as a backdrop for events and subsequently cultivating the cultural essence of each respective city (Celik, Favro and Ingersoll, 1994). The way, which streets are conceived and formed, sometimes reflects and structures the very community that it holds; an example of Islamic culture in which the street is constructed in such a way to ensure the seclusion of Muslim women from the public eyes and to shelter the host privacy, or an example of Chinese society in which streets tend to be filled with housings having open ground floor for commercial purposes (Kostof, 1992). In this case, the culture of the people who live on the street at time, is the key determining factor that characterises the street. On some other occasions, the street serves as a political tool for the upper and privileged classes to show case their power and to promote an supreme image with among the people (Kostof, 1992). The famous Perspective Plan of Venice in 1500 by Jacopo De Barber proposed a rough witness as to what the city development and the street of Venice was like then.
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(Lorenzetti, 2007). By comparing the original plan and nowadays map, it is shown that the original expansion of Venice took place mainly in the northern shore , "on the side of the Fondamenta Nuove and against it along the series of long parallel canals that mark the city in this side" (Lorenzetti, 2007). The development of the city is a slow and difficult process that took place over the course of centuries (Lorenzetti, 2007). The fundamental process of construction started with congregation of the population (Lorenzetti, 2007) . The canal, which was filled with muddy water, was subsequently cleaned up before construction of little streets for movement along the two banks were carried out (Lorenzetti, 2007). Afterward, building would be raised on rafts of larch wood over piles (Lorenzetti, 2007). This became the way which Venice was built up over centuries, gradually creating the uniqueness in Venice (Lorenzetti, 2007). Venice comprised of 100 islands, 150 canals intersecting and connected up by almost 400 bridges (Lorenzetti, 2007). Many locations of the interior city can only be reached by penetrating the complex maze of its alley ways. The street of Venice is very unique beyond the traditional definition and given the diversity of the types of streets, this essay will focus only on Calle ( small, narrow back alley street), Fondamenta (long street that runs along canal) and Campo (open field or square )
Fondamenta- The pavement of Venice "It is by wandering about in these parts on the outer edges of the city that one comes upon the picturesque aspects of Venetian life, gathers the most fluent and witty expression of the dialect, listen to the lively chatter and heated quarrel of the housewives
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and discover the characteristic types of the old fishermen or of the dark skinned Venetian women..." - Giulio Lorenatti's remarks on the experience
of
Venice
on
Fondamenta
Of all the unique types of street in Venice, Fondamenta is probably the first to be constructed and the foremost location where one could catch the glimpse of Venetian life. Being one of the oldest types of streets in Venice, Fondamenta flanks the two banks of the city canal, running close to the foundation of buildings and serving as a linking ground between lives of the inner city and lives on the water. Slightly slanted down to the canal to prevent water to spilled Typical Fondamenta
over the edge, with wooden piles pierced deeply into the bottom along the banks, the close proximity to the water body grants Fondamenta a role as a transitional ground, where goods are loaded off the commercial boats to be stored in shops along the canal or to be transferred towards the market street of Rughetta. The Renaissance Venetian housing in the poorer district was designed in such a way that the greater part of the
Fondamenta Sketch
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day was often spent outdoor (Kostof, 1985). As such, during the best time of the year, Fondamenta assumed the importance of Venetian life- to be a place, "outside the door of the poor house, damp and unhealthy", where the women get together to sew, the men discuss matters of their own and groups of children run around and play (Lorenzetti, 2007). Here, the life of Venice is set in motion.
Fondamenta - linking ground between lives of the inner city and lives on the water
Fondamenta Sketch
Section study Fondamenta
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Calli - The blood line of Venice (Calle: singular; Calli: plural) To many, the fondest memory of Venice is not in the grandeur of Piazza San Marco interior nor the extravagant Gondola ride on the Grand Canal, but the very ordinary stroll through the Venetian maze of back alley street – Calle. I spent most of my time in Venice Calli, getting lost, wandering aimlessly in the urban maze, while trying not to refer to the help of a modern map. Most alley streets in Venice are walled up by existing buildings, which rise up to about two - three storied height and ensure that the Calli will get abundance of shading Typical Calle
throughout the year. The feature however prevents a vantage point for any city wanderers
or
explorers,
blocking any sight of high landmarks or towers to which one could use as a reference point to navigate Calle sketch
Calle sketch
himself seemingly
through
the endless
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labyrinth. Of course after a few days, the secret of orientation through the street of Venice began to unfold. While the alley streets of Venice appear similar with exposed brick works or homogeneous tone of cheap plastered facade outside of each building, little clues are sprinkled throughout the maze, allowing one to take perceptual notes and gradually generate his own mental map. Every small turns where two different Calli meet, a small name sign board is present either on the wall facade or partially hidden on the ground. Being part of the city culture, heritage and , to a certain extent, vanity, different buildings has unique distinctive ornamentations on walls, windows, main entrances or sometimes the brass work lattice rounding a private loggia. ect. This forms the entire map, full of symbols, that one would hardly miss if he was perceptive enough.
...map, full of symbols, that one would hardly miss...
The private life on the street of Calli was probably first shredded light upon by the drawings of John Singer Sargent - an American artist who recorded these street during his early life training. In his oil painting ' A street in Venice ' (1880 - 1882), John depicted a scene of a quiet alley street of Calle in the presence of two Venetians – the man in top coat and the woman in warm wrap – both appeared to be having a chat in front of the woman’s house entrance. Unlike the more spacious and open Fondamenta or Campo, Calli were usually
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very small and narrow. Whether being the direct product of the Venetian urban planning or the unplanned residual space between two residential buildings , the street of Calli is barely wide enough for one or two people passing through at one time, making it inaccessible to public vehicles or goodtransferring-carts. This inaccessibility of the public on daily basis reserved Calli exclusively to the groups of Venetians who live along that particular A street in Venice - John Singer Sargent
Calli; not to mention that the lack of a complete and
accurate city map during the old days, further preventing people to travel into a new neighborhood, which they were not familiar with. The line between private and public spaces seemed to be distorted as Calli gradually became semi-private and occupied by neighbours to be used as transitional ground and chattering space. However, in the contemporary sense, under the new urban process, the function and status of Calli has changed drastically. People no longer occupy the alley street for their daily chattering. The invention of technology and virtual communication literally irradiates the need to go outside and communicate, resulting in the people's withdrawal from the street. . Excessive tourism also plays a massive role in influencing the alley street of Venice. Residential housing on ground floor is converted into souvenir shops that plague the city, encouraging tourists to wander about and exploring the alley streets, along the way,
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invading the space that was once considered belonged to the locals, subsequently changing their behaviours indefinitely.
Tourists invading Calli
Campo - The public essence of Venice (Campo : singular; Campi : Plural) Apart from the narrow Calli that plague the city or the designated Fondamenta that locates only along the city canal, the public spaces of Campi are the primary locations of public life in Venice, offering a rich continuum of a mixture of urban spaces and shedding lights on the public activities of the Venice locals. As stated previously, Venice is a city of cultures, trades, festivals and ultimately, of human interactions. While trades and business are normally carried out along the canal 17
street of Fondamenta and while major festivals and ceremonies are performed within the context of Piazza San Marco, it is on the ground of Campi that ordinary daily activities between citizen of Venice take place. Dating back to the old days, these Campi were open fields that interrupted the city maze and were filled with grass and vegetation (Lorenzetti, 2007). In modern time, these open fields remain almost unaltered with the surrounding buildings and Campo
churches
undergoing
carefully-planned
subtle
and
maintenance.
The
grass and plants on these field are unfortunately gone and the Campi original flooring is replaced with either cement or stone flooring to serve sanitation and convenience purposes. Still certain larger Campi have plants and trees providing sufficient shading for respective sunny weather throughout Campo interrupting Calli
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the year. Going up to over a hundred in number, each Campo has its own unique and distinctive individuality (Janson & Burklin, 2002). Each of these Campi communicates in a different way, requiring us to look at it in a specific perspective - human movement, void-solid relationship, spatial arrangement, ect. - to fully grasp its meaning (Janson & Burklin, 2002). In contrast to the rigorously planned square that often seen in other city planning, the space of Venetian Campi do not reveal a lucid image of a typical urban plan during the time when they were conceived (Janson & Burklin, 2002). Although their functions and programmes as public spaces were not documented fully, we are still compelled to subscribed subsequently based on our interpretations of contemporary users' behaviors and occasionally, on historical account in the form of arts and literatures (Janson & Burklin, 2002).
...space of Venetian Campi do not reveal a lucid image of a typical urban plan...
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As we turn our attention to Venice's figure and ground map, it is not hard to notice that Venetian Campi interrupt the city labyrinth of Calli from time to time. The locations of these Campi appear to be random as if someone have sprinkled a handful of seeds on the ancient map and subsequently determine the Campi's definite spot. These Campi are often bounded by the stretches of private housings and being surrounded, in a way, suggests Campi's role of centrality in the life of Renaissance Venetian community. The fact that these houses and Campi ( with exception of some major one) are situated deeply within the city maze, far away from the commercial street of Fondamenta further implies that these Campi themselves might have been used a trading ground where small shops and temporary stores were set up, with goods being transferred manually from main commercial street, serving and catering that specific region of locality. Among many Campi, the presence of a Church or an institutional building is often prominent; leading us to believe that in some other occasions Campi might also take up a role for religious preaching sessions and public performances. It is these kinds of urban forces, physical presences and urban catalysts that drive and invent the roles of Campi as public space, formulating people's behaviour and activities that might have been carried on into the modern day.
Campo section containing important features
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Architectural case study of Campo Giovanni e Paolo The individual Campo varies from one another because they present different types of fundamental characters and extend an evocative invitation to investigate and re-enact such characters. Given the sheer number of Campo that spread across Venice and the limited amount of research time, the observational case study of architectural aspects will focus mostly on Campo St. Giovanni e Paolo. Located to the North of Venice, Campo Giovanni e Paolo is one of the largest and most prominent Campi in Venice, housing two local landmarks, Colleoni Monument and the Gothic Church of St. Giovanni e Paolo. However the brilliance of Campo Giovanni e Paolo lies not at the sheer size but at the masterful interplay architectural characteristics of mass and void or lightness and heaviness At first glance, the Gothic Church of Giovanni e Paolo appears to dominate the Campo. A closer study using ground and figure map indicates that solid mass took up almost the same ground space as the open field (Janson & Burklin, 2002). The design of the church form and solid mass is inversely related to the 'void' and 'open space' making them a mirror image of one another with the church facade acting as a imaginary boundary (Janson & Burklin, 2002). void vs solid
Surrounded by the mass of housing and the Gothic Church, the space of Campo Giovanni e Paolo remained
unaltered and underdeveloped with its simple geometry (Janson & Burklin, 2002). The
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facade of the church rises to the height above the nearby dwellings, effectively 'pushes' the 'ceiling' of the campo upwards, enhancing the lightness character of the campo and countering the solidness and heavy mass of close by buildings (Janson & Burklin, 2002).
Campo Giovanni e Paolo plan
Campo Giovanni e Paole
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Urban process of Campo - Speculative origin and the generation of Venetian Urban plan. One of the most essential questions in regard to Venetian Campi is that of their origins, conceptions and assemblies. The urban process study requires us to gather information from direct on-site observation to the urban clues and records that lying obscure in many other forms or mediums - to eventually come up with an explanation for what or how the urban is constructed; in this case, this means the order to which different elements on sites came together and materialised into Campi as we know it. The unavailability of a concrete urban planning together with the ambiguous drawing of Venetian Perspective Planning in 1500 by Jacopo De Barber suggests that maybe the urban planning and development of Venice was in fact very unconventional even for its own time. As mentioned before, Campi are speculated to serve as trading, gathering and preaching ground. Without
any
reference
or
guideline, like the grid system, it is almost impossible to pinpoint
Campiello
the geometrical pattern of how these
Campi
come
about.
Looking across the board of Campo and Campiello ( a smaller version of Campo that holds many similar characteristics), each of these open public fields houses a particular important feature towards the people of Venice: a church, an institutional building, a 23
water well, a water body rii. In consideration of how medieval Churches chose the site on which they would be on, it could be speculated that during the very early day of Venice conception, within the marshy lagoons, these Campi were once the highest and most stable grounds. Occupation of these open spaces, over a long period of time, gradually became a custom and traditional routine, which were carried forward into the time when Venice started to transform into a city. Depending on the scales and sizes of these open fields, a landmark in form of a church, an institutional building, a sculpture, or in the case of Campiello, a water well, was added. Afterward, all the authority needed to do is to pass a law or policy for housing construction, setting a definite perimeter from which the houses had to be away from these landmarks as well as from other adjacent buildings. The development of Renaissance Venice thus became a unexpected morphology, growing constantly outward of each Campo and Campiello, achieving the urban pattern which seems to be absolutely spontaneous as we see in the modern day.
Speculative generation of Venetian urban form
The unique case study of Fondamenta, Calle and Campo continues to be one of the most fascinating studies of public space. These streets and their stories evokes emotions and curiosity, driving us, from theorists to tourists, to wander about and explore the wonder, 24
that never seems to fade. Yet our very own actions and interference may have change Venice's urban process, influencing the city and her people's behaviours in the most undesired way. Some people imply that Venice's wound is self-inflicted - full of moneydriven minds and overrated story. But that's the way the contemporary world works. Though our study and research can never directly influence the way of Venice and her people, at least
we can apply the knowledge gained through the course of this study to move closer to exploring the true identity and the origins of what makes up the exceptional essence of Venice, thus manipulating yet preserving Venice in a way that it stays true as the magical city, with which the world falls in love.
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Conclusion to Venice The trip to Venice has satisfied the group in searching our version of the city. Much discussion has spawned in celebrating its origins and its romance it brings. A debate spawned on a topic of ecology of Venice, another on the streetscape of the city in terms of its private and public boundaries – leading to ask where the front doors to their houses are. As much discussion goes, it provided more questions rather than answer. A similar conclusion can be said on how our views have changed about Venice after the visit; providing more questions than answers. After all, Venice is a city built on water – with many conventions being unfamiliar to us, and with many new additions that seemingly familiar to us, such as the department store at Venice called Coco highlighted by Jing Wendy Wen’s essay on tourism. It is no wonder why we as a group came to this predicament. After the debates and discussions, we all came to realise this: The form of Venice is the image we all perceive from films, post-cards, and advertisement. They are indeed the symbolic and almost only image of Venice that the city has left. Some on us concluded especially highlight by Jing Wendy Wen’s essay that going beyond the beautiful Rococo styled facade; we can no longer sense the Venice, what it used to be. Like putting on a masque, Venice put on her best ancient – or so called authentic look to greet us, and because of that, we thought this is Venice, a city with feather and pearls. In fact, Venice is more than a city with listed cityscape, it is a city living on top of water. Their life strongly tied with water beneath and sprawling around them, not to the decorated facade. Venice's function as a city is slowing being replaced by shopping and photography which is not directly feeding the city itself. To truly admire a city, Jing thinks one should admire
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its daily life line; how people living within the city grow with it, and adapt to changes. The beauty of Venice to Jing, is the flags of blanked hanged between houses on river, is the smile of local constructor trying to explain direction with Italian. Venetians not only own this city of heritage, also has Venice within. When Venice complete become a "duck" (Venturi, 1977) with inner system deteriorate, that will be the time we lose Venice as a whole. Le Minh Duc pointed out the fact of Venice has a unique naming system for its streets, all having its names in relation to canals and lagoons such as ‘Rivas’ and ‘Fondamenta’ (streets facing the grand canal, and streets that runs parallel to the canal respectively), the fact of the unique naming system exists tells volumes of how the waters of Venice is fundamental to Venice’s growth. Thus, the unique case study of Fondamenta, Calle and Campo by Le Minh De remains one of the most fascinating studies of the street; concluding in this view of Venice that each of these streets revolves around the life of Venetians, constantly influencing and reflecting their behaviours in the contemporary world. Urban process, within the spaces of Venice will continue to intrigue "conflation of social, political, technical and artistic force that generates the city's form." (Celik, Favro & Ingersoll, 1994, p.1) The urban process can be proactive or it can be reactive; sometimes it can be self-triggered, others it can respond to many factors within the urban context (Celik, Favro & Ingersoll, 1994, p.1). By understanding this urban process, we move closer to exploring the true identity and the origins of what makes up the exceptional essence of Venice. Though a complete story of how Venice was conceived can never be fully revealed, given the lack of documentations, evidences and witnesses, we can apply the knowledge gained through the course of this study to manipulate yet
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preserve Venice in a way that it stays true as the magical city, with which the world falls in love.
Analysing this ‘love’ comes Jonathan Wong’s conclusion of looking at the Genius Loci of Venice. The spirit of the place given by the world, the spirit of the place it actually has, and the spirit of the place’s effect in gaining new roads and bridges: A soul of Modernity embedded into the body of this medieval city; audacious, elegant, or perfection would be words to praise her. The genuine form of beauty enshrines unto her architectural heritage; a gift enacted over centuries of external influences. The taste of Venice-ness, however, radiates through her infrastructure differentiation from other cities; channelled persistently towards the genius loci of her. This spirit, as though it senses the future of modern cities; embrace the nature of her lagoon, adapting and dependent on water transportation. Studying the infrastructural network of Venice provides an insight into problem and possibilities of the two way transportation system. Bridges are as important as roads in many cities, besides supporting daily domestic activities; it commutes pedestrians across the fragmented island. Therefore, this uniqueness attain from the infrastructure network builds up the core identity of Venice-ness. Besides that, implying principles from Plan Voisin, and superimposed onto the urban environment of Venice; apprise the fact that, dual- infrastructure interface of Venice is able to prioritize and enhance individual experience, and civic aspect. By supporting these intricate interactions of people within the framework of Venice’s complex urban environment, it not only showcase as a model, moreover, it is a system that could be adopted into future cities or
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hopefully, a utopian dream. Venice proves to be an undying gem of today’s post-modern world, and it will perpetually adapt unto the paradigm shifts of tomorrow. Going back on the discussion point of ecologies; Venice also has seen its fair share of ecological challenges, floods of tourism and water, limited residential spaces for real venetians, over time, Venice has become a vehicle of uncertainly, prone to change. The only thing that is guaranteed is - it will need full cooperation of the local’s working towards sustainability in broader scale. Undoubtedly, the city is turning into a museum city that drives the residence away. The formal glory and the beauty of the city only contributed to its degrowth which further accelerated city’s decay. A life that is mostly dependent on service industry with extreme profit oriented mentality will not bring the city’s ecology back. The geographical and ecological challenges that they are facing will require its full support from communities. The empty houses and population needs to be distributed for sustainable territories that can be micro managed. The city needs to promote and reclaim other industries like universities, not the cruise ships that invade every inch of city’s ecology and sustainability. . But then again, it was the Venetians that challenged the boundary of human limitation. They are the one that created sustainability most effectively onto the nature’s instability. Perhaps, they will go through this crisis wiser than ever and teach another lesson to all of us and maybe the project MOSE will perform another miracle as he once did in bible. Whatever the consequences, we will learn from her again.
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As such, the image of the city today was developed with an extraordinary continuity and unity over the centuries; it emerged, from a mass of divergent detail, as a genuine, living work of art. ‘Venice as a work of art’, then, is the historically determined, aesthetically definable object of our analysis: as though this were gradually formed structure that had moved towards an ideal perfection, predetermined by an inner conviction, by its own formal reality. Even today, deep in the real Venetian, there is an echo of the civic pride of a people whose world existed for them within the perimeter of the lagoon. Today’s visitor of Venice is offered a unique and fascinating opportunity: to go back into the distant past. With a minimum of imagination we can eliminate violent lights and noises; walking along the calli and small canals before dawn, we can go back centuries, to the atmosphere of the old city, re-creating the space and time of a Venice that is alternatively medieval, Renaissance or Baroque, depending on the visual angle from which we happen to be viewing it. Closing the essay, we then asked ourselves would we recommend our friends, family and acquaintances in visiting Venice for their honeymoon, holiday or art experience trip. We came to a conclusion similar to Shenpei Ha’s conclusion of his essay. The answer would be yes and no. ‘No’ to the fact that Venice has lost its own identity in its own right, and may be permanently like this; and ‘Yes’ to the fact that to visit Venice for what it has left. As such, let us learn from Venice, let us learn how to protect our cities in preventing becoming another Venice/museum for tourists – because as architects - we build and design, our modern cities will soon become relics for our great great great grandchildren, and would you want your great great great grandchildren pay an entry fee just to see what we created for them?
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Bibliography: Individual Reference Books
Janson, A. Burklin, Thorsten (2002) AuftritteScences Interaktionen mit dem architektonischen Raum: die Campi Venedigs/ Interaction with Architectural Space: the Campi of Venice. 1st Ed. Basel, Switzeland: Birkhauser - Publishers for Architecture
Spiro, K. (1985) A history of architecture settings and rituals. 1st Ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Celik, Z. Favro, D and Ingersoll, R (1994) Streets Critical Perspectives on Public Space. 1st Ed. California: The Regents of the University of California.
Concina, E (1998) A History of Venetian Architecture. 1st Ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Spiro, K. (1992) The city assembled: the elements of urban form through history. 1st Ed. London: Thames & Hudson
Lorenzetti, G ( 2007) Venice and its Lagoon Historical Artistic guide. 2nd Ed. Italy: Edizioni Errecdici Padova
Internet sources
[A
Street
in
Venice] n.d.
[image
online]
Available
at:
<
http://www.jssgallery.org/paintings/A_Street_in_Venice.htm#Pic > [Accessed 18 April 2013]
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Group Reference ď&#x201A;ˇ
Celik, Z. Favro, D and Ingersoll, R (1994) Streets Critical Perspectives on Public Space. 1st Ed. California: The Regents of the University of California.
ď&#x201A;ˇ
Venturi, Robert, Brown Denise Scott, and Steven Izenour. 1977. Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Cambridge, MA: MIT, Print.
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ď&#x201A;ˇ
Appendix
Private space invading Public space
Midnight drifters
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