Venice
ParadoXcity
UVa School of Architecture Faculty Design / Research Studio Spring 2011
faculty design critic Jorg Sieweke
students
Alexa Bush Sarah Cancienne Seth Denizen Megan Driscoll Nicole Keroack Jen Lynch Peter Malandra Kurt Marsh Julia Price Erin Root Chase Sparling-Beckley Katherine Treppendahl Sui Xin Edited by Jorg Sieweke and Julia Price
2
Contents
7
Introduction Jorg Sieweke
Initial Explorations 13 19 21
Venice 2031: Tourist / Tide Utopias Venetian Grand Urban Rules Islands of the Lagoon Culminating Research and Design
23
Living Fossil to Living Machine
37
Acqua Venezia. New Water Economy for Venice
51
Processes of Inversion and Conversion. Reinterpreting Venice’s Marriage With the Sea
Sarah Cancienne & Jen Lynch Alexa Bush & Nicole Keroack
Pete Malandra & Katherine Treppendahl
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65
Terra Nova. Building a New Venetian Ground
80
Briccole-Age. Redesigning Venice’s Channel Markers
Kurt Marsh, Julia Price & Erin Root Seth Denizen
introduction ParadoXcity Venice
1556
Jorg Sieweke The historic cultural significance of Venice is the manifestation of an utopian idea to settle in the most unlikely of all territories. The amphibian culture can be seen as a model to not only maintain a civilization in a ephemeral territory but develop a model of mastering the environment to mutual advantage. Today millions can witness the remaining artifact as relicts of that era. The studio questions the tourist gaze at the decay and deluge and chooses to investigate lessons of performance that can be learned from this unique culture. The design research/studio is conceived as part of an ongoing comparative research on Delta Cities. The studio sequence explores the struggle for stability of a series of cities located on the swampy ground of rivers, deltas or estuaries. Prior studios looked at New Orleans in the Mississippi Delta and Baltimore at the Jones
1811
Falls/Inner harbor estuary. Delta - Lagoon - Bay Venice its lagoon and the Veneto need to be understood in the ongoing processes of geomorphology and the series of historic alterations to the hydrologic system. The studio begins to explore the causality of Veneto rivers creating a series of deltas in the Adriatic sea. After redirecting the rivers around the lagoon, its ephemeral state needs to be balanced between the terrestrial dynamics’ of sedimentation and the tidal influx of the sea eroding the land. Subsidence and SeeLevelRise add to the dilemma of the lagoon already becoming a bay. Serenissima: The art of calm survival The art of successful adaptations to an amphibian environment has lead to a series of cultural techniques in living
1897
between land and sea. E.g. cistern and wells utilized the patios as their catchment area for drinking water and therefore reflect the social space. The studio explore in how far the specific cultural practices and techniques can be updated and implemented to today’s demands in order to utilize the landscape as a supporting system, again.
The future of the city and the lagoon is presently negotiated between opening it as the Gateway for the contemporary scale, dimension and speed of the port; and closing it with the M.O.S.E. vertical flap-gates against the storm surge of the Adriatic Sea. Both interventions are in conflict with the present ecosystem dynamics of the lagoon. Venice was thriving with the port and trade of its time, today it is threatened by the recent port proposal. Challenge 2003
The studio strives to pick up on cultural techniques and practices that offer contributions to the city in its struggle
4
for stability. How can the venetian trajectory of the art of survival be re-envisioned with the means of today?
introduction
Gateways and Gates
jorg sieweke
Venice
Seth Denizen HOLGA Double exposure
6
Holga double exposure Seth Denizen
salinity/rivers/barene
salinity/rivers/barene
pah’s/macroalgae
arte laguna exhibition, arsenale
san polo canal
pah’s/macroalgae
LAGOON BATHYMETRY AND BARENE Sarah Cancienne and Jen Lynch
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sediment types/barene
jorg sieweke
sediment types/barene
bathymetric change/channel speeds/effects of winds
introduction
bathymetry/barene
1 la certosa
2 sant’erasmo
3 burano
4 san francesco del deserto
5 northern salt marsh
6 fresh water lagoon
6 3 4
bathymetric change / boat speeds / wind effects Sarah Cancienne and Jen Lynch
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jorg sieweke
2
introduction
1
5
INITIAL EXPLORATIONS Venice 2031: Tourist | Tide Utopias
Scale of body: scale of simulacra
MIRRORING Jen Lynch The sketch design considers the physical conditions of Venice (its ecology-in-flux, its historical infrastructures, its urban fabric’s interactions with water) as well as the narrative conditions of Venice (the language, stories, mappings, ideologies, and utopian visions that have sustained the city as much as the physical changes to the land). It seemed helpful to establish a metaphor that could be carried back and forth between the physical and metaphysical realms of Venice and that could be carried across scales. The concept of “mirroring”— relationships of illusory balance, part reflection, part refraction—was explored. The physical modifications of the landscape that have taken place historically, as well as the representations/perceptions of the city and its lagoon context, were understood as a series of mirrors and lenses.
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JEN LYNCH
Scale of CITY: SCALE OF PERSPECTIVE
Venice 2031: Tourist / Tide Utopias
Scale of lagoon: cartographic scale
INITIAL EXPLORATIONS Venetian Grand Urban Rules THE GUILD
Jorg Sieweke
Setting standards is first and foremost a cultural act. We read cities by their rules! Rules link the physical
trade guild masters oversaw the practice of their industries’ customs and codes by its members and often collected fees and favors.
with the social city, connecting quality with quantity and latent characteristics to manifest ones. Thereby and almost unnoticed, they have become design instruments. In fact, regarding rules as tools offers a
Code
valuable (urban) design attitude – departing from an approach that wants to control everything, and moving towards a non–fatalistic form of control between freedom and coercion. Axel Lehnerer
We are assuming the Venetian Republic to be an outcome of a highly regulated society. The outstanding cultural achievements are resembled by a set of rules, routines and rituals. In order to better understand the organic morphology of the city we need to learn more about the history ideas of its making. What are the rules of constructing transportation and infrastructure that have allowed the utopian idea to build a city on mud flats to manifest? Beginning with the regulation of the dynamic geomorphology of the rivers required elaborated hydrological rules. We need to acknowledge the becoming of Venice as learning process requiring multiple techniques of adaptation to the challenging setting of the swampy ground. The image conveyed today of palaces facing the Canale Grande today say little about the incremental growth of many smaller islands that only consolidated to the one Venice we visit today. The cisterns providing drinking water represent the size of local communities. Innovative construction techniques allowed to bring the load of public churches and scuola’s
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Venetian GRand urban rules
care the cities metabolism and resources.
JORG SIEWEKE
down. Besides the rules of construction that are manifesting the morphology of the city many rules were taking
INITIAL EXPLORATIONS Prototypical islands Jorg Sieweke
Venice at large should be understood as numerous smaller or larger islands in the lagoon. The first settlements in roman time for instance were located on Torcello, it was later abandoned due to conflicts with river sediment siltation. Settlement patterns in the lagoon were dispersed and transient and only became permanent at what we consider Venice today, after the diversions of the rivers Sile, Brenta, and Piave. The particular historic function and culture of a choice of abandoned minor islands in the lagoon is explored in order to suggest new prototypical concepts for Venice in both programmatic and structural ways. Heterotopos The minor islands were always a site for the other - the antagonistic uses and program: Gun-powder, vegetable garden, pest house and cemetery. How can the islands be reinvented as prototypes for supporting system for the lagoon? How can we for example draw from the concept of quarantine or monastery for today? POVIGLIA Pete Malandra & Katherine Treppendahl
TOUR: a second city: one tourist per resident a day! Assuming we are all tourists in the educational tradition of the GRAND TOUR at some point. Tourism can only be as good as what it is offered. How can we direct the unconscious stream of capital and time moving through Venice in a better way? What might be complementary offers to a particular group out of 20 million visitors. What can be more “authentic” experiences for Venice. How could the vacant minor islands be programmed for antagonistic or complementary program that would help support the lagoon?
ments depending on the perspective and subject matter. The wet/dry zone deteriorates and fractures brickwork and destroys historic buildings. The oscillating tidal dynamics create an incredibly productive ecosystem of cypress forests, mangroves, salt-marshes, oyster-beds, reefs, depending on the climate zone. Can these generative ecosystems be interpreted as an abstract model to provide biological informed, constructed environments?– terra firma!
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SANT’ANGELO DELLA POLVERE Seth Denizen & Kurt Marsh
SANT’ANGELO DELLA POLVERE Seth Denizen & Kurt Marsh
Islands of the Lagoon
The fluctuating dynamics of tidal wetland estuaries are both: most destructive and most productive environ-
JORG SIEWEKE
TIDE: Intertidal Zone: dance between entropy, erosion and morphogenetic evolution.
Katherine Treppendahl “The august city of Venice solidly built on marble” of which Petrarch wrote is in a precarious position. Because of the ephemeral qualities of a lagoon and the imposing threats of eustacy and subsidence, Venice has a limited amount of
EXTREME TIDE = EXTREME TOUR Alexa Bush
time. Only extremely expensive infrastructural devices can prolong its life, and those (like the
100% Tide | Sea level continues to rise in Venice, with the acqua alta approaching five feet. Undeterred,
7 billion dollar in MOSE structure) will only last
the tourism industry finds new ways to exploit these extreme conditions to offer the ultimate in
a century at most. We must recognize that
adventure travel. Environmental hazards? No problem, we’ve got a waiver for that. And what could be
this model of the city is not sustainable. So the
more exciting?
question that begs to be asked is: What are we
ALEXA BUSH & KATHERINE TREPPENDAHL
DOUBLE VENICE
Venetians find new ways of adapting to the changing conditions of the lagoon embracing new rituals
What if we let it exist as a modern day city,
like Water Carnival and technologies such as wetsuits, extending their unique relationship to living on
one which changes and grows and responds
the water.
to the people who visit it and the trajectory of modernism, technology, etc . as well as one that responds to the waters that want to overtake it. This project proposes we allow the Venice to slowly be taken over by the lagoon. At the same time, we copy it (cast it, and remake it in a buoyant material) and float this facsimile over the sunken city. This new buoyant “Venice” is reconfigurable, able to be added to, and even
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go on tour.
Venice 2031: Tourist / Tide Utopias
saving and why?
21ST CENTURY SASSANTI Seth Denizen A modest proposal: Presently tourists arriving in Venice are given an image of a city arrested in time, and permanently on display. How could they be offered something different? How could tourists be offered, not an image of a city, but the ethical responsibility for it? How could the sum total of small acts of ethical engagement add up to something, that would mean the long term survival of the city? One opportunity exists in the fact that the way Venice handles its flows of tourists was never subjected to Fordist principles of optimization: it is still full of bottlenecks. Unlike most major tourist destinations, the ways that one can enter the city are extremely limited. Nearly every one of the 60,000 tourists a day must come from one of 8 departure points, and arrive at one of the three major destinations: the train station, the cruise terminal, or the car park. And once in Venice, to get from place to place they must continually cross any number of
entire lagoon for shore and breakwater maintenance. This maintenance was never-ending, as the rock would erode and deteriorate under the constant force of the Adriatic’s storms and tides. How could tourists become the new Sassanti? Step 1: Airport body scan creates a three dimensional model of the tourist, and assess a tax at customs to pay for the casting of the model in concrete. This happens once per lifetime. Step 2: Tourists are invited on a luxury barge cruise to the Venetian breakwaters to throw their concrete-selves in. Step 3: The concrete casts begin to aggregate into offshore breakwaters and groynes which accumulate sediment. This process results in the extension of the shore, absorbing wave action, and reducing erosion. The concrete itself erodes, delivering sediment directly to the shore. A cottage industry springs up offering scuba diving trips to find famous people, ancestors, or even yourself, underwater.
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Venice 2031: Tourist / Tide Utopias
In the 18th and 19th century the Sassanti were the “rock men,” tasked with delivering high quality stone to the
SETH DENIZEN
Venice’s 409 bridges. Venice is full of bottlenecks.
LIVING FOSSIL TO LIVING MACHINE
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living fossil to living machine
sarah cancienne & jen lynch
Sarah Cancienne & Jen Lynch
This proposal arose out of several research trajectories/interests
(living
machines/tidal
infrastructures, the material history of Venice, complex and adaptive social and ecological systems governed by rules (the rules of St. Benedict, river diversions), a set of scalar indifferent metaphors for reading the site as a cell and a living fossil and another set of metaphors for understanding the site’s infrastructure as cellular and as a set of mirrors and lenses used to engineer an equilibrium), which ultimately led to a proposal for rebuilding
infrastructure, a new iteration of construction materials, new rule-based ways of “being Venetian,” and techniques for regenerating various “fossils” (old rivers, the deteriorating Lagoon, Venetian urbanism) to perform (social and ecological) functions.
ETHER CELLS ROUTINE(metabolism) CELL WALLS
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CONTEXT(“in alga”)
living fossil to living machine
new hydrological rules, a dispersed, redundant
sarah cancienne & jen lynch
the ground of the lagoon through a series of
The trend that was ultimately observed as problematic was the erosion of the Lagoon’s ground and the effect of this erosion on the city—increased frequency of acqua alta. Current rebuilding techniques were observed, researched and critiqued—in their form and materiality, they mimicked the calcification process (building of stagnant infrastructures) that makes Venice so fossil-like. Additionally, the existing defense system of the MOSE was considered as a calcified shell to the Lagoon but one with potential
26
living fossil to living machine
sarah cancienne & jen lynch
to positively influence the Lagoon’s tidal metabolism.
end of 1900
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hydrlogical principles of nicolo zen (1557) 1. 3. fresh water must be kept out of the lagoon 4.19. straight channels drain most efciently 5. turbidity increases 16.the sea is the lowest of all surface waters17.2. Brondolo provides sea level18. 20. when ow slows 6. water levels rise when rivers meet 7. constant ow neither rises nor falls 8. rivers with no turbidity do not raise their beds or stretch the delta into the sea 9. embanking and canalizing improves ow 12. 13. 14. drainage canals carrying turbid runoff from15. 10. clear canals are more easily navigated than turbid canals 11. keep separate: large alpine rivers carrying sediment; local hills and marshes; and clear-running 6. streams running from the fontanile 7. 8. 9. 10.
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new hydrological principles for the venice lagoon 1. “a wooden pile builds a marsh” 2. materials introduced to the lagoon should be adaptive/exible/removable 3. elevation denes a salt marsh 4. infrastructures are modular/redunant/soft 5. materials introduced to the lagoon should biodegrade 6. geotextiles are economically sustainable 7. erosion and deposition create similar concave forms 8. barene require high area/perimeter ratio 9. dendridic forms are regenerative; linear forms are destructive 10. program types follow landscape type 11. land accretes gradually, with the tide 12. a lagoon is dened by a tidal/riverine relationship of optimal 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. balance 13. perforation of articial barene edges will create complex forms from simple forms 14. barene salinity increases with elevation 15. rebuilding of barene requires silt, not sand 16. modication 21.accelerates rebuilding processes 17. barene 22. 24 25. of tidal and sedimentary paramters are formally dendridic and complex 18.23. rigid materials accelerate degradation of the lagoon 19. venice has a history of textile production-- manufacture of geotextiles can reinterpret a historic economy 20. laminar ow vs. turbid ow 21. a mosaic of sediment types results in the formation of complex ground patterns 22. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. delta formation involves increasing complexity; channelization decreases complexity
sarah cancienne & jen lynch
settle
11.
21.
22.
23.
24
31.5 million cubic meters
bora
25.
new hydrological principles for the venice lagoon 26.materials introduced to the lagoon 27.should be adaptive/exible/removable 28. 29. 30. modular/redunant/soft 5. 31.materi1. “a wooden pile builds a marsh” 2. 3. elevation denes a salt marsh 4. infrastructures are als introduced to the lagoon should biodegrade 6. geotextiles are economically sustainable 7. erosion and deposition create similar concave forms 8. barene require high area/perimeter ratio 9. dendridic forms are regenerative; linear forms are destructive 10. program types follow landscape type 11. land accretes gradually, with the tide 12. a lagoon is dened by a tidal/riverine relationship of optimal balance 13. perforation of articial barene edges will create complex forms from simple forms 14. barene salinity increases with elevation 15. rebuilding of barene requires silt, not sand 16. modication of tidal and sedimentary paramters accelerates rebuilding processes 17. barene are formally dendridic and complex 18. rigid materials accelerate degradation of the lagoon 19. venice has a history of hydrlogical principles of nicolo zen (1557) textile production-geotextiles can reinterpret historic 20. laminar ow vs.out turbid ow 21. a 4. mosaic of channels sediment drain typesmost results the formation of complex ground 1. the sea is the lowest manufacture of all surface of waters 2. Brondolo providesasea level economy 3. fresh water must be kept of the lagoon straight efin ciently 5. turbidity increases when patterns ow slows22. 34.5 million cubic deltalevels formation involves increasing channelization 6. water rise when rivers meet 7.complexity; constant ow neither risesdecreases nor falls 8.complexity rivers with no turbidity do not raise their beds or stretch themeters delta into the sea 9. embanking and canalizing improves ow 10. clear canals are more easily navigated than turbid canals 11. keep separate: large alpine rivers carrying sediment; local drainage canals carrying turbid runoff from hills and marshes; and clear-running streams running from the fontanile
new hydrological principles for the venice lagoon
new hydrological principles for the venice lagoon 1. “a wooden pile builds a marsh” 2. materials introduced to the lagoon should be adaptive/exible/removable 3. elevation denes a salt marsh 4. infrastructures are modular/redunant/soft 5. materials introduced to the lagoon should biodegrade 6. geotextiles are economically sustainable 7. erosion and deposition create similar concave forms 8. barene require high area/perimeter ratio 9. dendridic forms are regenerative; linear forms are destructive 10. program types follow landscape type 11. land accretes gradually, with the tide 12. a lagoon is dened by a tidal/riverine relationship of optimal balance 13. perforation of articial barene edges will create complex forms from simple forms 14. barene salinity increases with elevation 15. rebuilding of barene requires silt, not sand 16. modication of tidal and sedimentary paramters accelerates rebuilding processes 17. barene are formally dendridic and complex 18. rigid materials accelerate degradation of the lagoon 19. venice has a history of textile production-- manufacture of geotextiles can reinterpret a historic economy 20. laminar ow vs. turbid ow 21. a mosaic of sediment types results in the formation of complex ground patterns 22. delta formation involves increasing complexity; channelization decreases complexity
7.5 million cubic meters
diversion 1 diversion 2
diversion 2 tourism
mose
acqua al alta
sirocco
acqua cqua alta sirocco siro
30 seasonal environmental dynamics
living fossil to living machine
hydrlogical principles of nicolo zen (1557) 1. the sea is the lowest of all surface waters 2. Brondolo provides sea level 3. fresh water must be kept out of the lagoon 4. straight channels drain most efciently 5. turbidity increases when ow slows 6. water levels rise when rivers meet 7. constant ow neither rises nor falls 8. rivers with no turbidity do not raise their beds or stretch the delta into the sea 9. embanking and canalizing improves ow 10. clear canals are more easily navigated than turbid canals 11. keep separate: large alpine rivers carrying sediment; local drainage canals carrying turbid runoff from hills and marshes; and clear-running streams running from the fontanile
new 6. hydr 1. “a woo als introd forms are balance of tidal an textile pro delta form
16. hydrlo 1. the 6. wa 10. cl ning s
new h 1. “a als in forms balan of tida textile hydrlo delta 1. the 6. wa 10. cl ning s
new h 1. “a als in forms balan of tida textile delta
assembly
disassembly
b wooden piles [anchor camping platform] biodegradable tent panels camping platform geotextile mattress geotextile sleeping bag
a/b/c/d 1/2/3/4 0 x y
a d c
y 3 x
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TOUR
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The first Venetians were amphibious, creating land out of shifting water/ground. The design proposes a new
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way of “being Venetian”/inhabiting the Lagoon. It is too expensive for most people to stay in Venice. The
1 a
y
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designed kit of parts for accelerating the lagoon-building process takes the form of a camping kit—a series of c
x
piles (stakes for anchoring a boat or pitching a tent) and geotextiles (biodegradable sleeping bags, mattresses and tent materials)—and a manual/set of rules. The camping site/patterns change with the seasonal dynamics disassembly
a/b/c/d 1/2/3/4 0 x y
of the Lagoon and the rebuilding location/agenda, but the kit and rules remain consistent (complexity arises out of a basic set of rules and materials that reacts to changing parameters). This is the opposite of “leave no
disassembly
wooden piles [anchor camping platform] biodegradable tent panels camping platform geotextile mattress geotextile sleeping bag
trace behind” camping—the kit of camping parts is purchased by tourists and the tourists rebuild the Lagoon by
y
camping and leaving their camping materials to help build ground. In this way, the nature of tourism becomes
x 1
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constructive vs. degrading.
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c
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living fossil to living machine
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sarah cancienne & jen lynch
4 2
living fossil to living machine
34 sarah cancienne & jen lynch
ACQUA VENEZIA New Water Economy For Venice
36
ACQUA VENEZIA
ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
Alexa Bush & Nicole Keroack
Despite their invisibility today, the cisterns form part of the underground infrastructure that enabled the settlement of Venice
PUBLIC WATER
O F
been completely abandoned, but the infrastructure
I N F R A S T R U C T U R E S
filter beneath its stones. We propose to revive this
P A S T
Historically, water in Venice was a more public amenity, supplied by a distributed network of 6000 rainwater harvesting cisterns. This network has still exists in the grading of every campo and sand system of public water as a source for tourists, as an economic catalyst for a broader water economy, a more sustainable form of tourism, a reimagination of public space and water in the city and the lagoon, and a chance to revive the processes and ecological relationships between the city of Venice and its lagoon.
RAINWATER HARVESTING: CISTERNS Venetian cisterns were a unique adaptation to living in the lagoon, which is entirely brackish with the exception of few freshwater springs scattered throughout. The cisterns harvested rainwater from the surface of the campi as well as adjacent buildings, making its campo its own watershed and social unit. Rainwater collected in runnels and was directed underground through surface drains. The water passed through sand which filtered it and improved its quality. Storing water underground kept water cool and limited its exposure to direct sun, reducing algal growth. Venice received about 6-8 cm
ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
Campo San Barnaba
G H O S T S
1. RAIN FALLS ON CAMPO ROOFTOPS AND CAMPO SURFACE
by freshwater brought from the Brenta by the
2. GUIDED BY GRADING TO DRAINS OVER CISTERN
‘aquaroli,’ the freshwater guild of Venice. This water
3. FILTERED BY SAND 4. DRAWN FROM WELL SHAFT
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was brought into each campo and poured into the cistern drains to filter and store the water.
ACQUA VENEZIA
of rain a month, and this quantity was supplemented
SAN TROVASO | DORSODURO | VOLUMETRIC CASE STUDY MAPPING DENSITY HUMAN PRESSURES Venice is a city that has existed as the product of the rituals of daily life. Human power and manual labor have been and continue to be the important source of energy for the city, and most of the movement of goods and services continue to happen at the body scale (carts, small boats, buckets). The once great Venice of the 14th and 15th centuries has gone into deep decline (and may never be so dominant again), Mapping Cistern Density
but modern efforts to revive the city have failed.
VOLUMETRIC CASE STUDY: SAN TROVASO | DORSODURO
Hydrologic Capacity
HYDROLOGIC CAPACITY
surface Surface area Area as ashydrological Hydrological capacity Capacity
1857 Survey: 5,991 Cisterns
3 approximate volume: 300ofmone [79,200 approximate total volume cistern gal] 3 300m [79,200 gal] void space sand: 25%
void space sand
water 25% storage capacity one cistern: 75 m3 [19,800 gal] water storage capacity one cistern water capacity city (~6000 cisterns): 75 m3 storage [19,800 gal] 450,000 m3 [118.8 million gal]
3 cm 3 cm rainrain
water storage capacity city (approx. 6,000 cisterns) 450,000 m3 [118.8 million gal.]
annual rainfall in venice: 76 cm/yr venice annual rainfall 76 cm
1010 cmcm rainrain
40
Cistern Density as Urban Form
ACQUA VENEZIA ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
0 cm rainrain 0 cm
The petrochemical plant at Porto Marghera briefly augmented the economy of Venice and Mestre, yet brought great environmental damage to the lagoon and contributed to the subsidence of the city. Tourism provides the economic base of the current economy, but as it exists also burdens the maintenance of the city as well as its 1925 - 1940
1971
Porto Marghera Constructed & Aquifer Extraction Begins
Ban On Aquifer Extraction At Porto Marghera And In Venice
livability for residents. Since the 1960’s Venice has lost a significant amount of its population, due in part to the combined forces of increased tide and increased tourism as other industries have declined. The very people necessary to maintain Venice continue to depart. Thus, we argue that Venice is not sustainable as it currently exists; the pressures of increased tourism that demands that Venice look a certain way (a static artifact) is not only exorbitantly expensive to maintain, but cripples the city from being able to adapt as it had in the past by building higher ground. We hope to imagine an alternative economic force for Venice that takes advantage of its current industries (tourism, fishing, glassmaking, lace) and setting within the lagoon to provide a more diverse set of industries, practices and
1941 - 1952
1971 - 2011
Industrial Capactiy at Porto Marghera Increases
Subsidence Slows but a Complete Recovery Not Attained
rituals within Venice to enable it to adapt to the trends of rising tides and tours. While tourism provides a source of economic benefit for the city, it also has many costs. In particular, trash removal is a serious problem for Venice, in large part because of the scale of the city, where trash is collected by hand. Venetian authorities have mounted campaigns to get residents to drink more tap water and lessen the use of plastic water bottles, which has had success in reducing the amount of garbage generated by the city;
withdrawal go into effect (for example, agricultural use on San Erasmo) we would like to propose new more 1952 - 1970
2012
resilient strategies for water procurement. We believe that the current method of procuring water from mainland
Peak Extraction: 50 Wells in Marghera and 10 In Venice Compromise Aquifers #2,4,5 and 6
Lagoon-Wide Ban on Aquifer Extraction for all Islands (Impacts Agriculture)
sources carried through aqueducts are less desirable than more local means of procurement. Drawing water
Beneath the venice lagoon are alternating layers of clay and sand that form a series of aquifers going down 1000m. The aquifers are fed from the terra firma, and several re-emerge in the lagoon as submarine or terrestrial springs. Several islands in the lagoon have used wells to tap these aquifers since their founding, but groundwater extraction excalated dramatically in the 20th century, primarily due to industrial activity. This activity has caused Venice, Marghera, and much of the lagoon to subside.
42
from distant sources can create many conflicts of interest and creates inequities and disconnects between upstream and downstream communities. We believe there is water generating capacity in the lagoon that could be explored as an alternative source.
ACQUA VENEZIA
Freshwater withdrawal has been a major factor in the subsidence of the lagoon, so as future bans on aquifer
ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
however, these campaigns have failed to effectively target tourists.
PROPOSAL 1. Revive an existing but abandoned infrastructure and revive a culture and ritual of cisterns, which were previously social as well as infrastructural centers. 2. Expand and scale the water system by adding other local forms of water harvesting in the form of fog condensers and desalination centers. These systems would be concentrated in the Central region of the lagoon and add a new structure to an area that is becoming an open bay through the erosion caused by dredging deep navigation channels for petrochemical industry. 3. Make water available at refurbished wellheads. 4. Design a water container that is both attractive for a souvenir and for reuse, and encourage both Venetians and tourists to use it, developing a “brand� of water in Venice. These bottles could be locally produced using the skilled glass workers of Murano, and generate new jobs through the deployment of this service. 5. Establish a method for water shipping, transport, and water bottle washing that meshes with the vaporetto and current lagoon scale transportation systems. 6. Open the possibility of a water knowledge network that encourages research and collaboration with other coastal regions with similar climate and water needs. This will take place across scales and will focus on an overhaul of the entire system with the goal of establishing both new and old infrastructures and inscribing new urban routines. Our sites and scales are as
returned for reuse 2. Scale of the City: Redevelopment of the existing cistern infrastructure; networks of water and container distribution centers 3. Scale of the Lagoon: Water collection through fog harvesting and desalination which will reinvigorate and create new transportation options, public spaces, and ecological potential by creating habitat and countering erosion; formation of a lagoon scale water economy for both drinking as well as agricultural and industrial use 4. Scale of the Globe: Open the possibility for future knowledge transfers to other coastal regions looking for more resilient water procurement
44
ACQUA VENEZIA
1. Scale of the Body: a functional and easily transported water container that can be bought as a souvenir or
ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
follows:
ACQUA VENEZIA
46 ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
OUTCOMES Reconnect both Venetian citizens and tourists to the productive nature of the Lagoon ecosystem. Showcase Venice as a series of cooperative systems and flows, and show that this has been true historically high pressure tank
and resurrect it to a working future.
500 mesh to 1000 mesh filter 1000 mesh to 5 nano filter 5 to 5 nano filter drinking filter
Reduce waste and encourage the kind of tourism that pays attention to the environment and the current working systems of the city as well as its illustrious past.
12 volt DC pump (powered by PV panels)
water overflow discharge
Create (Recreate) new centers of urban interaction around public drinking fountains. Respond to larger ecological cycles of Venice (rain, fog, climate, salinity and lagoon dynamics). Model of hybrid infrastructure that harnesses ecological flows with low-energy technology that could benefit multiple ecologies of the lagoon (ecological, industrial, economic, social/public space).
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ACQUA VENEZIA
ALEXA BUSH & NICOLE KEROACK
Water Filtration + Catchment
PROCESSES OF IN VERSION AND CON VERSION Reinterpreting Venice’s Marriage with the Sea
50
PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
Pete Malandra & Katherine Treppendahl
the century and a half that has followed, the city has only become more of a spectre. Its waters have been egregiously polluted, its residents and native industries have mostly fled, the land its built upon is sinking lower while the sea level rises-- and all the while, waves of tourists continue to come in droves. To most, the death knell seems now to be tolling for this place, and yet, what is most remarkable is that the city refuses to recognize the nature of the crisis. It is investing billions of dollars in taping over its wounds, continuing to build up layers of stone in a salty landscape, and, with the gates of the MOSE system, walling itself from the very tidal flux that it depends upon for survival. Both of these responses, raising its ground and walling itself off from the sea, are short-term fixes and incredibly costly. They, along with Venice’s addiction to tourist ticket sales, reflect the city’s inability to intelligently and sustainably respond to the forces threatening to destroy it. Furthermore, these responses are at odds with the very principles that made this city a city in the first invasion of tide
52
place. The lagoon in which the city is built first began to be inhabited after the Huns and Lombards attacked the mainland of Italy. Several groups of Italians fled these invaders by moving into the marshy lagoon, an undesirable place the Huns and Lombards had no intention of inhabiting. Slowly, these resourceful adaptive immigrants learned how to live in this wet landscape, and even discovered within it invaluable resources: salt, mussels, fish, and, most importantly, a role within the major shipping and trading routes of the time. Their power and wealth grew as a result of the Venetians’ ability to understand their environment, to recognize it as
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
of its former self. As long ago as 1853, John Ruskin referred to Venice as “a ghost upon the sands,” and in
PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
invasion of tide
invasion of huns & lombards
This project is based on a critique of contemporary Venice, a place that survives as three-dimensional postcard
that resourceful survivor that resourceful survivor that resourceful survivor emerging as that impossible as that emerging fisticuffing as that emerging impossible emerging as that emerging that and doing and it all doing and so it decadently doing all so it decadently all soasdecadently against the impossible fisticuffing against the impossible fisticuffing against the impo miraculous mysterious miraculous mysterious miraculous mysterious miraculous mysterious miraculous odds odds odds myst creature, creature, creature, creature, cre
an ephemeral landscape, a place situated on the tenuous edge of land and sea, salt water and fresh water. They diverted rivers, dredged canals, and carefully legislated and policed over the Venetians’ exploitation of their natural resources. Their history is one of adaptations, and the myth of Venice, the identification of it as a magical, miraculous, impossible and decadent city, emerged as a result of the ability of its inhabitants to work with the natural forces threatening to demolish it.
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PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
eful t resourceful that survivor resourceful survivorsurvivor g sticuffing against fisticuffing the against against the the odds odds odds
This was Venice, this the fair frailty that fawned and betrayed, half fairytail, half tourist trap; the city in whose stagnating air the art of painting once put forth so lusty a growth, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.” Thomas Mann 1912
r
e
“The glazed and birttle palaces pulsate and radiate And glitter in Summer’s garden sways” Rainer Maire Rilke, Late Autumn in Venice
s
i
d
e
n
t
“I set off for Venice in order. . . to see embod-
s
“At every possible point theatrical saints and angels, only sustained from falling to the ground by iron bars let into their backs, start from the niches and cling to the sculpture.” WD Howells
Fra Paolo Sarpi, 1623
1600 1700
1800
u t o “One of the wonders, for a city, in the world, as having the foundation laid in, and the whole frame of the building raised out of the Mediterranean Sea.” Thomas Dekker, 1631
100cm tide
“The very scope of architecture is to mold an ambience whose everchanging face is the
ied, in palaces that were decaying yet still upright, still pink, Ruskin’s ideas on the domestic architecture of the Middle Ages. What importance, what reality can a town so special,
“Esto perpetua”
venice: buildings & tides
alive reflection of
the evolution of life. Such is the continuity.” Manfredi Nicoletti
so localized in time and so particularized in space as Venice
have in the eyes of someone…” Marcel Proust 1900
1900 s t s i r
110cm tide
2000
funeral for venice
“Who clipped the lion’s wings And flea’d his rump and pared his claws”
120cm tide
TS Eliot 1920
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
“The atmosphere of the city, the faintly rotten scent of swamp and sea, which had- driven him to leave, in what deep tender almost painful draughts he breathed it in.” Thomas Mann
50cm
130cm tide
RSL
+4cm +16cm +30cm
Contemporary Venice should respond to its modern invaders
+50cm
(mainly, the tide and the tourists) in a similarly adaptive
projection of sea level rise
and resourceful manner. In the same way that the earliest
+100cm = MOSE gate closure
Venetians took on the challenge presented to them and
+50cm +30cm +16cm +4cm
relative sea level
MOSE SYSTEM: towards permanent closure?
learned to inhabit a landscape in a new way, modern day Venetians should combat this invasion by attempting to do
new islands
the same thing. The city cannot keep the water out forever. Instead of investing all their money in expensive short-term rising seas = more frequent gate closings
life-support systems, they should invite the water back into the city.
56
vs. beginnings
PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
tide which result in MOSES closure
100cm
new souvenir
marine life habitat
affordable housing
subjected to aqua alta, new wet places would exist within Venice. These spaces would act as nodes within the city where new businesses, new parks, new residents, new types of tourists could
tourist accommodations
something in flux), these areas could be places for experimentation in a frozen city where preservation
N
M
2
E
-- not adaptation -- has been the regime for the past
bird habitat
T
R
century. They could be places that allow for a world
T
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T
ruin as artifact
N E
E
M T
R
A
2
Owners may opt to sell their property to the city.
3
The owner may choose to demolish the building completely or allow the load-bearing walls, foundations, and friction mats to remain
elevated walkways
G
R
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E
1
All buildings within 120cm tidal range must abandon the first floor to the city.
M
demolished to foundation
T
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A
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restore wetland habitat
utility conduit
R infrastructure
alternative accommodations
O
P
city 4
Owners may build new structures (residential, commercial) between load bearing walls at the level of second floor and above.
5
The city turns the ground level into spaces which connect residents and tourist to the lagoon.
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
reside. By mimicking the nature of the lagoon (as
PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
maintain loadbearing
I P
H
â‚Ź
S
N
E
habitable bracing structures
support channel embankment
park
prevent erosion
privately owned
Y PH
A
R G
O W
city-owned
maintain loadbearing
photo op
PO
By giving up places to the sea that are now
habitable bracing structures
demolished to foundation
outside of 120cm tidal range
EXISTING within 120cm tidal range
TO
â‚Ź
Casoni casonihuts and sheds of timber and thatched straw.
Istrian Stone As New Public Space
Material Techniques
istrian stone base nonporous
Remaining Structure As New Habitat
loadbearing wallsperpendicular to canals while front walls work as screen
piano nobilemain living space
service floorwhere goods are delivered
HISTORIC CONSTRUCTION ADAPTATIONS
60
PROPOSED BUILDING CONDITIONS
PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
Structural Components
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
oak or pine piles, embedded 3 meters into mud
water flows into garden at high tide
high tide sea level
of possibilities: economically, socially, ecologically
low tide
existing istrian stone foundation
garden drains at low tide
barena garden
Urban Barena
and architecturally. Our design provides Venice with a new flexible, slimier infrastructural backbone and offers several possible representations of what these spaces might become. However, our design language, but, instead, a new way to approach the
residential and commercial waste water high tide sea level
but as a process, adaptive and invigorating.
low tide
settling tank
tidal filtration tank
building debris w/ microorganisms
Living System
Enteromorpha intestinalis | gut weed
Littorina littorea | common perwinkle
Chthamalus stellatus | poli's stellate barnacle
high tide sea level low tide
Restored Habitat Botryllus schlosseri | star ascidan
Mytilus galloprovincialis | bay mussel
Pachygrapsus marmoratus | marbled rock crab
PROPOSED URBAN EDGE CONDITIONS
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future of Venice--as not a place, frozen and exploited,
Spartina maritima | cord grass
PROCESSES OF INVERSION AND CONVERSION
existing istrian stone foundation
Pete Malandra & KAtherine Treppendahl
is not attempting to suggest a codified architectural water feeds into system at high tide
TERRA NOVA Building a New Venetian Ground
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Terra nova
Kurt marsh, julia price & Erin Root
Kurt Marsh, Julia Price & Erin Root
lace and the city lace and the city city
Venice symbolizes the strange beauty that is possible when human habitation adapts itself to extreme environmental surroundings. Sea level rise and climate change place the Venetian lagoon at a critical juncture in its existence and necessitate new techniques of adaptation. Terra Nova proposes a new, more flexible set of methods to build ground, improve biodiversity, and permit human access to this critical process in order to allow this very unique city and ecosystem to survive. The city of Venice emerged incrementally from its lagoon habitat as the result of technological innovations that allowed people to build solid ground from marshy substrate. The relationship of urban occupation to the ephemeral morphology of
this unique symbiosis: Starting in the 14th century, siltation from the many rivers that emptied into the lagoon threatened to shift the morphology toward that of a delta, and connect Venice to the mainland. This trend was fought by an impressive campaign of river diversions that spanned into the 17th century. Now, without the rivers adding sediment to the lagoon and with the increasing threat of storm surge and sea level rise, Venice is instead fighting to keep the lagoon from slowly becoming part of the Adriatic. GROUND BUILDING HISTORY (792-1892) Video stills showing the figure ground relationships of both the city’s and lagoon’s growth and the network of “islands and bridges” in lace. The morphology of Venice and the lagoon has developed through a gradual construction over many centuries.
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Campaigns to fight the increasing occurrence of flood, or acqua alta, have focused on centralized
Terra nova
as a sequence of adaptations aimed at preserving
Kurt marsh, julia price & Erin Root
the lagoon can be traced through the city’s history
interventions – massive flood barriers (the MOSE project) at each of the lagoon’s three mouths to combat the inevitable. This heavy-handed approach is akin to the major river diversions that first reversed the morphological trend, and it fails to recognize the rich Venetian history of dispersed smaller-scale adaptations and management practices that governed the daily existence of Venice and her lagoon: floating mills that could be moved to take advantage of shifting wind and tidal patterns, managing wetlands and salt marshes for continued production of salt and maintaining a diversity of marine and avian species, emerging technologies for supporting and building ground, and complex networks of circulation. This proposal builds on this tradition of understanding and adapting and encourages the reimagining of
of a comprehensive lagoon ecosystem. Beginning in the 1980s, it has increasingly been recognized that contemporary development, boat traffic, and fishing had so severely damaged the biodiversity and morphology of the lagoon that deleterious effects were being observed in the structural stability of the city, the cleanliness of the water, and levels of flooding. To repair some of this harm and supplement the storm surge protection of the MOSE, a campaign has been established to restore and construct new salt marshes and LAGOON ECOLOGY MAPPING Currently, the lagoon’s floor, salt marshes, mudflats, and islands are severely eroded due to boat traffic and sea level rise.
mudflats in the most eroded and exposed parts of the lagoon. Current construction practices use sediment dredged from transportation channels to rebuild the
68
Terra nova
environmental health are seen as inextricable parts
Kurt marsh, julia price & Erin Root
Venice as a more connective place where social and
salt marshes that have been destroyed due to erosion or inundation. Perimeters of tubular gravel-filled sacks are laid out in forms that attempt to mimic natural morphologies. Dredge material is then pumped in from various places around the lagoon without concern for the particular sedimentary needs of the sites. It is pumped in quickly and without adequate regard for attaining the elevations or soil stratification needed for healthy marsh formations. This practice results in monolithic structures that are often too high to allow for the tidal influences needed to form tidal pools and creeks – that function more like islands than healthy wetlands. The gabion edges of these formations, while effective in preventing erosion control, are
CURRENT SALT MARSH PROTECTION & CONSTRUCTION Techniques of dredging, filling, and using rigid edge materials overfill the new salt marsh, compacting the sediment, precluding ecotone formation and necessary overtopping by tidal flux. This results in a monolithic artificial island rather than a fluctuating intertidal ecotone.
too rigid to allow for any topographic variation along the perimeters and restrict the necessary exchanges of sediment and nutrients along the wetland edge.
50cm 40cm 30cm 20cm 10cm above MSL
“The turbulent and almost undifferentiated manner in which these areas were created are in clear contrast to the aims of recreating environments derived in nature from gradual, slow, and differentiated processes” l. bonometto
stone mudflat gabion eroded into channels with no sediment replenishment
Kurt marsh, julia price & Erin Root
little organic content
50cm 40cm 30cm 20cm 10cm above msl
Juncus maritimus “sea rush” Suaeda maritima “annual seablithe” Sarcocornia fruticosa “glasswort” Limonium narbonense “sea lavendar” Aster tripolium “aea aster” Puccinellia palustris “puccinellia” Inula crithmoides
Inula crithmoides Sarcocornia fruticosa “glasswort”
Sarcocornia fruticosa “glasswort” Puccinellia palustris “puccinellia” Inula crithmoides
spartima maritima “common cordgrass”
Inula crithmoides Puccinellia palustris “puccinellia” Sarcocornia fruticosa “glasswort”
proposed: new barene construction & buffering techniques
Juncus maritimus “sea rush” Suaeda maritima “annual seablithe” Sarcocornia fruticosa “glasswort” Aster Tripolium “aea aster” Limonium narbonense “sea lavendar”
navigation channel depth: 4m-30m
barene elevation above mean sea level: 0.24-0.50m
tidal creeks
avg. tidal range: 0.6-1.1m
0.10-1m deep
lagoon mean depth: 1.5m
mudflat
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high marsh
medium marsh
low marsh salinity=25-35%
groundbuilding lace navigation channel depth: 4m-30m
Larus michahellis “Gabbiano reale” Haematopus ostralegus “Beccaccia di mare” Haematopus haematopus “Cavaliere d’Italia” Recurvirostra avosetta “Avocetta” Tringa totamus “Pettegola” Tadorna tadorna “Valpoca” Anas platyrynchos “Germano reale” Charadrius alexandrinus “Fratino”
periwinkles barnacles mussels mud worms grey crab green crab oysters
buffering floating wetland
Terra nova
barren lagoon floor stone dredged sediment fill gabion undifferentiated stratification
In addition to these operational issues, there is also exists a physical and intellectual isolation between the people of Venice and ecological processes and issues that surround them. In the past, the city was populated by residents with an inherent connection to the larger lagoon and an understanding of the particular context of this amphibious urbanism. Now, however, the city is filled to capacity with tourists from all over the world who have little exposure to the lagoon or ability to have a positive contribution to its future. If a bodily experience of the lagoon’s ecology is made an integral part of the city of Venice, then perhaps the city can become more ecologically and socially resilient over the long-term through this more true and diverse understanding of the city by both tourists and residents.
b a needle lace
ground - building lace
gros point de venise
Ground Building “Lace� Learning from the logic of lace making, this new geotextile consists of both perforated and woven elements, transforming it from a two-dimensional mat to a three-dimensional structure that can be adapted to the specific site condition and build up layers of sediment over time.
perforate
pockets made by pulls/pools punto en aria (in the air)
the perforations are forms, rather than slits to create more substantial structural pockets. the precise perforated grid is a ground that allows for the weaving to vary within it, this enables the textile to be adaptable to a variety of sites.
geoweb:
logic:
- begin with one point and move transversely - this technique has the ability to create varying desities with very little to no sectional differntiation
a cellular semi - adaptable permanent system for soil stabilzation
point de neige
of the woven elements sted on site to create f gradients based on weave nd filtration needs. vellum, paper or linen ground logic:
- begin by making a larger framework - fill in the voids of the framework with a seperate logic - this technique has the ability to create substantial density variation resulting in sectional differentiation
existing technologies and materials
pockets made by pulls/pools
woven anchors pulling perforated units create pockets for collecting sediment, potential tidal pools and streams
the density of the woven elements can be adjusted on site to create a variety of gradients based on stiffness and filtration needs. edges of the barena require greater density with smaller apertures to prevent edge erosion (loss of existing sediment and clay from wave action).the further from the edge, the more distance between the woven elements, enabling more flexibility and larger aperatures.
rosepoint
bobbin lace
b a
anchors:
anchors:
the woven units that move through both perforations a and b to prevent shifting, and enable stability
woven unitscorallino that move through h a and b create stability
intersections/connections
the objectives of materials perforated layer: structural, permeable, biodegradable
woven layer: flexible, elastic, biodegrades slower than the perforated layer
woven anchors connect overlapping layers
logic:
- knot around the needles - as one moves through the pattern, the field of needles move structure & forms the negative space - begin and move among a field of needles - this technique has the ability to create a variety of densities in plan, but no sectional thickness
biodegradable coconut fiber:
a woven biodegradable fiber used for erosion prevention that supports growth a development of vegitation
the ability to vary in plan and section over the barena, without verticle, hard edges enables gradual, natural silt accretion over time. the pockets and subtle shifts in micro topography stimulate development of topographical habitats within the salt marsh like tidal creeks, and tidal ponds
Terra Nova addresses these shortcomings through the development of an aquatic geotextile that could be employed throughout the lagoon as part of a new ground-building regime of incremental sediment accretion and supplementation. The geotextile uses patterns of perforations that open and expand like gills to capture and hold sediment. This is applied in layers and pulled and contorted into gradient conditions by a system of flexible woven strips that provides further variations in density and texture along the surface. The layered combination of these two systems creates a surface that gradually thickens and thins in section and opens and closes in plan. This would encourage a slow and varied buildup of ground and the shifting emergence of a diversity of lagoon morphologies and interdependent ecosystems. These wetland-forming operations would be especially important in areas around the lagoon where ecological health has deteriorated and where heavy boat traffic and tidal influx has led to problems with erosion of lagoon’s floor and its many edges. To protect against this erosion, the gradient between channel and accreting ground would be thickened. The inner edge of the varying geotextile would be porous to allow for a healthy exchange of water and minerals while an outer edge Proposed Lagoon Park Plan, Giudecca / ISOLA La Grazia A new type of floating fondamenta is created on the southern edge of the city, connecting a growing residential neighborhood to its neighboring islands.
of protection would be created out of a network of floating treatment wetland islands. These islands are made of matrix of recycled plastic curls that supports plant growth and provides habitat for marine invertebrates. The network floats in
floating network geometries
floating path | wetland network : assembly - exploded axonometric wetland pads : native barene vegetation
1) place pts. on site :
4) define path : - 25% of the distance
- along the perimeter of ground building operations where erosion control is needed - along existing islands where erosion control and/or public access is desired - bridging between islands in key areas where pedestrian access might be extended
2) interpolate curve through pts.
6) use pt area to define voronoi geometry : - cull out voronoi pads that are too large or too slender: creates
between the two curves
irregular edge and large sheltered pools within the network
a jagged
walkway pads : mesh fabric tread
3) thicken curve :
- interpolate curve through original curve control pts. - assess curvature at pts: tight curves fill in with circular area
5) array points within defined area :
- pt. array densest and most regular around path curve - array gets further spaced and less regular as it moves toward perimeter
wetland pads (top half) : polyethylene terephthalate matrix (made from recycled plastic drinking botttles) large surface area for biofilm
walkway pads (top half) : castable rubber
polyurethane spray foam plugs (marine grade) adhere layers of wetland matrix together and provide buoyancy
flexible hose around powder-coated steel cable connection network
wetland pads (bottom half) : p.e.t. matrix layers sandwiched around cable network
walkway pads (bottom half) : castable rubber two sides sandwiched around cable network and large air voids for buoyancy
wetland pads : vegetation roots provide habitat for invertabrates and juvenile fish
straighter line = thinner path
more curvature = thick path inside of curve fills in with wetland pads creating larger biomass for filtration, habitat and erosion control
primarily for ciculation
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more curvature = path thickens less direct circulation, more biomass
wetland pads : flexible anchoring web -
heavy curvature = thick curving path
network anchor appears only in key shallow areas to add to current and wave buffering as well as aquatic habitat
high biomass with geometry creating sheltered pools and coves for varied wildlife habitat 1/4” = 1’-0”
0
2’
4’
8’
Tidal Stairs response to tidal flux and storm surge and provides buffering from harmful boat wakes and waves. The steel bracket
attachment to fondamenta
connected network of wetland pads would be anchored in places with a branching web that would thicken the assembly in section to better protect the ground from wave action and aid the dangling roots of the plants in
l.e.d. light tube steel support rod
for light tubes and tidal registration
steel stair frame stone treads rigid marine-grade foam for buoyancy
creating habitat for juvenile fish and other lagoon species. In plan the network is a pattern of voronoi pads that is parametrically derived along curve geometries that thicken and thin to create more or less biomass for varying protection and habitat needs. In places, the voronoi pattern tightens and regularizes along a curve to create a walkway that snakes through the floating network and allows residents and visitors in Venice to occupy this emerging world of ecological
rolling connection (allows for tidal flux) steel loop with rubber gasket (connected to lower stair) around steel rod with stops (connected to upper stair)
activity. The walkway would be accessed through a new typology of stairs that would attach at key places along the hard vertical stone edges of the city and other lagoon islands. These large terracing stairs would retract and extend in the z-axis as an evocative new register of tidal flux that allows for constant access to the water. The new pathway would also open new social spaces for the city: It would provide new publically accessible waterfronts in emerging residential zones and allow pedestrian access to some of the city’s mysterious and
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Terra nova
Kurt marsh, julia price & Erin Root
beautiful network of peripheral islands that are currently marginalized and underused.
presence within the lagoon. By diversifying and protecting the ecological activity within the lagoon, and allowing people to experience these processes, the project aims to change the perception of Venice from that of a postcard image of narrow alleys and gondola-filled canals to a fantastic city in which the urban fabric, history, and practices are inextricably connected to the processes that constitute this unique lagoon environment.
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Kurt marsh, julia price & Erin Root
lagoon’s ecology into closer proximity with the city of Venice and give it a more evocative and accessible
Terra nova
This new multifunctional operation of ground building and floating networks would bring the richness of the
BRICCOLE-AGE Redesigning Venice’s Channel Markers Seth Denizen
bri·co·lage
|ֽbrēkōlä zh |
noun (pl. same or -lag·es) (in art or literature) construction or creation from a diverse range of available things: the chaotic bricolage of the novel is brought together in a unifying gesture. • something constructed or created in this way: bricolages of painted junk.
80
( pl. bric·co·lē)
BRICCOLE-AGE
bric·co·la
SETH DENIZEN
origin mid 20th cent.: French, from bricoler ‘do odd jobs, repair.’
82
BRICCOLE-AGE
SETH DENIZEN
For more than a millennium the city of Venice has made a home for itself by balancing two things: economy and ecology. This is not a division between the lagoon and the people. The plague is a point of departure for understanding wwthis. It is something that has always been more complex, and more intertwined. This balance is its perch in the world: it’s bowery. Venice is becoming disconnected from its natural processes. These include: three kinds of tourism and four kinds of ecology. Disconnected is a landscape term, in the sense of ‘hydrologically disconnected,’ when a stream has become separated from its banks. The results for a stream are like the results for Venice: interstitial space collapses, life for living things becomes a monotony of one way flows. Briccole-Age takes the heterogeneous condition of Venice as its inspiration.
3 TYPES OF TOURISM 1: daytripping italian/european crowds 2: transient international elite - days 3: residential international elite - summer home
4 TYPES OF ECOLOGY 1: Tidal Flush 2: Tidal Flood 3: Salt Water
Some estimates put the number of wooden poles
4: Fresh Water
stuck in the muck of the lagoon at over a million. Officially maintained poles are probably closer to 90,000. These poles are arguably the first infrastructural system Venetians ever adopted in the Lagoon, without which there would be no Venice to occupy Venice in 810, the Venetians removed the channel markers and fled to Ri’Alto, then the deltaic lobes of the Brenta. Without these markers, Pepin never made it from the barrier island capital of Malamocco to Ri’Alto, and his army failed to
SETH DENIZEN
as we know it today. When king Pepin of Italy tried
to replace, adding up to about 4 million Euro a year between the city of Venice and the Magistrate del Aque to maintain them.
84
BRICCOLE-AGE
occupy the lagoon. Today they cost 200 Euro each
14 FT
30 aprile
1 maggio 22:25 max: 90
22:00 max: 90
21:35 max: 75
06
Mytilus galloprovincialis - Bay Mussel
15:45 min: 15
12
11:30 max: 60
11:00 max: 60
10:25 max: 55
04:20 min: -5
00
2 maggio
04:45 min: -5
18
00
16:20 min: 20
16:15 min: 15 05:15 min: -10
06
12
18
00
06
Porphyra leucosticta - Sea Lettuce Jeroboam
Magnum
Bergundy
12
18
43.5˚
Bricole
2 cm - 2 meters length X 2 cm width
Botryllus schlosseri - Botrillo
Shell for boring
Enteromorpha intestinalis - Gutweed
Balanus amphitrite - Barnacle
WHITE ROT FUNGAL DECOMPOSITION OF Jeroboam
37˚ 37˚
45˚
37˚
urban ritual
From the water the briccole are already a landscape datum of bathymetry, economy, and in the case of the
-50 (cm)
LED
Capitelli, urban ritual. The Capitelli are
-50 (cm)
SEA the WATER small
C
shrine alters seen along calle in Venice. They are maintained
informally, by untrained volunteers, and as such comprise a model system for how urban life and ritual might -
come into direct contact with its supporting landscape infrastructure. +
100 (cm) 80
-
60 40 February
March
April
“...two of the most perfect buildings in the world, the Parthenon and Ducal Palace of Venice, have no bases to their pillars: the latter has them, indeed, to its upper arcade shafts; and had once, it is said, a continuous raised base for its lower ones: but successive elevations of St. Mark’s Place have covered this base, and parts of the shafts themselves, with an inundation of paving stones; and yet the building is... as grand as ever.” John Ruskin 1886 Ruskin ‘Stones of Venice pg.73
+
a cultural understanding of + infrastructure, which seeks an ethics of responsibility and rutual exemplified by the MUD
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) (H2O2 + Fe2+ + H+ 2H2O + Fe3+ + ·OH)
Capitelli.
86
-
Briccole-Age seeks this kind of relation, in which the sum total small acts amount to an infrastructure. This is
20
SETH DENIZEN
45˚
Ruskin ‘Stones of Venice pg. 88 -96
BRICCOLE-AGE
AFTER
BEFORE
0 FT
Magnum
White rot requires 30% of wood fibers to be saturated with water, and must in contact with the air. This make the intertidal zone the only place it can live on the bricole.
12
Jeroboam
Magnum
Bergundy
18
00
06 43.5˚
Bricole
12
18
-50 (cm)
-50 (cm)
Magnum Jeroboam
100 (cm) 80
37˚ 45˚
Ruskin ‘Stones of Venice pg. 88 -96
37˚
45˚
60 40 February
March
April
20
“...two of the most perfect buildings in the world, the Parthenon and Ducal Palace of Venice, have no bases to their pillars: the latter has them, indeed, to its upper arcade shafts; and had once, it is said, a continuous raised base for its lower ones: but successive “...two of the most perfect buildings in the world, the Parthenon and Ducal Palace of Venice, have no bases to their pillars: the latter has elevations St. Mark’s Place covered this base, and of ones: the but shafts themselves, them, indeed,of to its upper arcade shafts; andhave had once, it is said, a continuous raised baseparts for its lower successive elevations of St. Mark’s Place have covered base, andstones; parts of theand shafts yet themselves, with an inundation of paving stones; yet theJohn building is... with an inundation ofthispaving the building is...as grand as and ever.” as grand as ever.” John Ruskin 1886 Ruskin 1886
37˚
Ruskin ‘Stones of Venice pg.73
urban ritual LED
C
+
-
+ 88
MUD
+
BRICCOLE-AGE
SETH DENIZEN
SEA WATER
Venice
ParadoxCity
ParadoXcity is a design/research initiative founded by Jorg Sieweke. Studios and workshops investigate a series of Delta Cities in a climate of change. The goal of the comparative research is to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the swampy ground these cities share, to allow for an informed outlook into their future. Delta cities have been impelled to manage the advantages and disadvantages of their geographical setting from the first day. Similar patterns of modernization can be found in their asynchronous historic development, for example in the rise and fall of New Orleans and Venice during past centuries. Both former empires are sinking and shrinking as a consequence of loosing their adaptive capacities to a belief of control and order over nature during the process of modernization. Have we ever been modern? DeltaCities have been and will be the avant-garde in a process of adapting to various economic ecologic and sociocultural changes imposed on other cities as well. In a dynamic environment of change, how can these cities stay fit to sustain a state of stability and not risk to decay in a state of stagnation?