18.10.04
The Weekly Recap (or Why We're Never Home)
for your viewing pleasure, please visit the link below to see and hear what we've been up to this week:
to whet the appetite,our Fearless Leader:
Posted by jrl6p at 00:18 | TrackBack
09.10.04
Unesco + Rowing
Today we attended a UNESCO conference in Castello, near where Nicholas’ and the ladies’ apartments. The subject of the conference [entitled: UNESCO – Private Committees Programme for the Safeguarding of Venice] was the unveiling of the book, ‘The Science of Saving Venice.’ The book is the consolidated effort of a variety of scientific, social, government agencies who are charged with researching and finding solutions to Venezia’s many environmental and social issues. The conference was presented in either Italian and English. UNESCO translators, fed through wireless headphones, broadcast the presentations so most could comprehend what was being said. I found the book very helpful in extracting the most important and up-to-date information available for the public. I found the native Venetians’ reactions in the subsequent debates to be most insightful, as it seemed they were extremely passionate and concerned with what was being done.
After the conference, Nicholas and a few of us met up with Fabio Carrera, who took those who wanted, to Certosa, a small island just north of the Arsenale. This was of great service to Angela K, whose site is the island itself. We traveled via one of Fabio's rowing team's rowing shells and his friend Franco's wooden motorboat, who happened to be taking a day from being the head of the envrionmental department of Provincia di Veneto. Once on the island, we were led around by another of Fabio's friends, Daniella, who leads elementary school groups on environmental education tours of Certosa. Afterwards, Fabio let all of us try rowing, Venetian-style. It is the highlight of my Venetian experience so far!
Posted by dwd4f at 15:39 | TrackBack
28.09.04
Ghetto Section Sketch
Posted by dwd4f at 17:33 | TrackBack
Campo Ghetto Nuovo: Once Closed, Now Connected
Campo Ghetto Nuovo has evolved + functioned as the physical manifestation of a closed society; from 1516 when the Council of Ten confined the Jews, to 1797 when Napoleon pulled down the guarded gates [the Austrians again confined them until 1866]. It is the aim of the wellhead project to reengage the tourist traffic with the less-visited fabric of Venice. The aim of this project is to document the space and design a prototypical spatial vocabulary of planted form for redefining not only the individual wellheads, but also the many campi that house them. The re-envisioned campo should work to draw summer crowds of tourists off the direct and beaten path to San Marco. My research interest in the many species of birds in and around Venice and the Laguna di Venezia has fueled research finding species that an aviary might attract to the campo. My suit:case functions as a mobile process center. The analog data recorded may be digitally photographed, then printed out onto a variety of media. Those subsequent layers may then act as underlay to future mappings of both targeted bird habitat and human flows in and around the city and Campo Ghetto Nuovo.
Posted by dwd4f at 17:24 | TrackBack
city // san giacomo dell'orio
Venice is a material accretion.
It has come into being unlike any other city, building upon itself in immediate response to its own ever changing topography.
But how do we—tourist, traveler, venetian, urbanite, nomad—inhabit 1000 years of material residue? In a city in which land and water overlay one another as unique systems of logic, perceptually distinct and yet locked together at points and edges, I contend that we may understand the city only in moving through it. In moving, we re-construct the city through our paths, perceptions, and imaginations, making infinite approximations of ‘venice’ that attach to the material city through the points and lines which we traverse, touch, remember.
Between land and water exist two cities. Between tourist and venetian exist two cities different from those. In Invisible Cities, Marco Polo describes fifty-five cities that we know to be one. But where do these cities—those of perception, memory, and imagination—anchor themselves in the physical city-artifact itself? I propose to study, map, and design these points of intersection. For example:
A bridge over a canal carries the body on a topographic experience, up, over, and down again, from one island to the next and over different types of ground. But a calle, ending abruptly in water, itself presents the wanderer with an experience of the venetian topography: standing on the edge, having run out of pavement, one can achieve a tiny vista of facades available only to the canal. Here, when the walker has come to the end of a walkable surface, these two cities reveal themselves.
Can this moment become a moment of design? Can the ‘dead’ end transform itself into a live one? The calle that terminates in water becomes a mooring point for the reciprocal cities of land and water, but also for our perceptions and imaginations which themselves create a venice. The dead/live end is a pocket for experience and perception. But the wellhead, and the campo itself, also represents a thick sectional connection between overlaid cities—land and water, venetian and tourist. I believe that the campo is not a place to be revealed, uniformly, to all. Instead, like the terminated calle, it is a deep and hidden pocket—a place to be discovered and re-constructed by everyone who perceives it.
I will study the campo san giacomo dell’ orio by mapping the points and lines of intersection between these overlaid cities. What is the campo’s position on a path, or on many paths? What is its role as a point in itself, or as a space adjoining other points? Where does it keep the many cities distinct, and where does it reveal their connections? My goal is to strengthen the autonomy of the separate cities, keeping, for example, the city of tourists distinct from the city of venetians, and to operate on the points at which they intersect as moments of discovery.
Posted by becky at 13:37 | TrackBack
Biodegradable Migrant Housing
My site is located on the eastern end of the island of Sant Erasmo in the Venetian lagoon. An aerial view of Sant Erasmo displays agricultural patterns of adjacent browns and greens. The cyclical nature of growth, death and regeneration symbolizes this landscape.
Similar to the crop cycle on Sant Erasmo, ancient Venetian architecture was also once cyclical in nature. The structures were built with biodegradable materials that would wear over time, be recycled and replaced. Today, this system is obsolete. Venice has become a "museum" of precious architecture and unaffordable housing.
As seasonal tourism drives and sustains today's Venetian economy, affordable accommodations remain scarce. Furthermore, local workers are forced to commute from the mainland as housing has become too expensive. My proposal is to offer affordable housing on the island of Sant Erasmo to accommodate migrant tourists and seasonal workers. Following in the ancient Venetian style, these flexible dwellings will provide temporary shelter according to seasonal cycles and need. The materials will ultimately biodegrade and feed the soil for agricultural production.
Posted by krv3c at 13:16 | TrackBack
italy. venice. castello. campo san zaccaria.
Located just east of the popular Piazza San Marco and north of the Riva degli Schiavoni, the Campo San Zaccaria sits teetering on the amorphous edge of public and private Venice. It is at the center of a small island surrounded on all sides by water, holding together two contrasting urban conditions bisected by a street that runs directly from the Piazza San Marco to the Riva. To the west of the campo [and the main wellhead] lies what I am assuming to be a residential and mercantile area where restaurants, shops, and hotels can be found still influenced by the hum of nearby San Marco. The walkways in this zone are generally near the water, creating a public atmosphere or front door-like condition. Directly on the east side of the campo is San Zaccaria which is surrounded with what used to be a monastery/convent [now turned into the headquarters for the Carabinieri]. Naughty nuns and unwanted daughters were said to have been held up in this convent while it was still working. The east side of the island is somewhat closed off to pedestrian traffic. All access to the water is privatized and the public space is turned inward through numerous private courtyards.
Without the nearby, outside influences, the Campo San Zaccaria is the center [both geographically and metaphorically] for all of the functions of this particular island. The wellhead located here proves to be an interesting and challenging scale to work at to start to address the conditions of the tourists and the residents. Not only am I interested in providing information on the loaded history of the place and its livelihood, I am hoping to create a new atmosphere that begins to play with this notion of an ideal center and the ‘heaviness’ that is referenced with that. What is a campo in the twenty-first century Venice?
Posted by kristy at 12:51 | TrackBack
Rebellious Terrain
The context of Campo Manin, situated between the modern architecture of a civic bank and the statue of a rebellious Daniel Manin, sets a precedent for change. As it stands the campo is protected as an artifact, as are all campi in Venice. The notion of artifact may be part of Venice’s demise for it demands the majority of Venice’s built environment to remain passive to current changes in flooding and habitation.
Campo Manin has a history for spatial rebellion. The current configuration of this site was very different centuries ago. Where a typical church and wellhead once stood now steadies the mass of a mid 20th century bank, rare architecture for museum-like Venice. Furthermore, the statue of Daniel Manin (for whom the Campo is named) stands in the center as a rebel patriot who fought to keep Austria at bay in the 1800's. Under the precious stone of this Campo lies the sinking and shifting strata of the lagoon. Upon the Campo scurry residents and others, visually, if not consciously unaware of the pilings that hold up Venice and the fact that the stone campo they walk upon is like a dock bridging space and forming a prosthetic ground.
The hard strata of Venice, a city designed to shed water, now collects copious amounts during times of acqua alta (high water). I envision Campo Manin as a rebellious terrain that works actively with the acqua alta and the reality of its construction and history. I am interested in a design agenda that reveals an active Venetian terrain responsive to local patterns of use and the terrain/strata of the Campo. Ultimately, occupation and knowledge of Campo Manin will be that of rebellious precedent that inspires future solutions for a physically active Venice dealing with change.
Nancy Coulter
Posted by ntc2t at 10:45 | TrackBack
Certosa: Sponge of the Lagoon
Venice faces a crisis that threatens its continued survival. Tourism threatens its way of life, and the impending rising tide challenges the island city’s existence. The lagoon plays a crucial role in the lives of Venetians. Its cultural and natural history tell the tale of protection of the main island as well as filtration of human impact on the lagoon ecology. Stemming the tides of tourists and water involves rethinking the role of the islands in the larger lagoon system. Isola della Certosa, just off the eastern shores of the main island, is a laboratory of human impact on the region. Through reclamation of an otherwise abandoned and abused island, Certosa will act as a link in the regeneration of lagoon life, human and otherwise. Acting as a sponge, Certosa’s role will be one of water filtration, strengthened bird habitat, and a continued barrier to the sea. The island’s design will emerge out of an exploration of its microtopography, adjusting contours to accommodate ecology. This island, unlike much of Venice, will have a new life as an untouched refuge. Water levels and seasonal bird migration will dictate access. Indicator species will suggest new design directions. Certosa will be the new gem of the islands, acting to check the tide of tourism and pollution in an imperiled city.
Posted by amk7b at 10:00 | TrackBack
barricata?
In the distanced world of internet research, table top hardcovers, and tourist guide books, my site, the Campo di San Cosmo, remains a mystery. Even when I become a daily visitor, still I won’t assume that it’s proper fate will announce itself to me. The campo sits in the middle of the island of Giudecca, just south of Venice proper.
From the nineteenth Century until the middle of the twentieth century, the island became an industrial suburb to Venice, boasting flourmills, a clock factory, a brewery and boat yards. The introduction of industry to the mainland has since left the factories without function.
What makes the island of Giudecca unique is that it remains impenetrable to tourists- its frustrating dead end roads and seemingly run down buildings apparently discouraging them. The abandoned factories have attracted a working class crowd, and the old brewery has recently been turned into apartments. Perhaps the emerging “bohemian air” could begin to attract unwanted tourist attention, but optimistically, the island of Giudecca could become a haven for Venetian citizens.
The Campo di San Cosmo sits amidst the rejuvenation. The site enjoys the proximity of a female penitentiary, and the campo hosts the San Cosmo Cathedral. I am unsure to what degree the campo itself has become residential, or recently enlivened. I am interested in pursuing measures of urbanization that could barricade the swarms of tourists that Venice receives each year. I am searching for a program that will encourage the gathering and replenishment of community members, in the same way that wellheads served to collect water and provide for community members in historic campos of the island of Venice.
Posted by akc2q at 00:17 | TrackBack
27.09.04
Macroalghe e Carciofi
I am studying the Torre Massimiliano on the island of Sant’Erasmo that forms part of the proposed Lagoon Park. I am interested in documenting the specific crops planted on the island, the tidal cycle of the lagoon and the canals, and the farming methods used in an attempt to map runoff patterns and potential pollutants. The proposed intervention will attempt to increase the awareness of the visitor to pollution in the lagoon environment as well as to the specific agricultural environment of Sant’Erasmo. The visitor will travel about the island on bicycle.
Posted by shh7y at 21:43 | TrackBack
24.09.04
changed&restored
Posted by aks3j at 09:06 | TrackBack
churches&green space
Posted by aks3j at 09:04 | TrackBack
wildlife diagram
Posted by amk7b at 09:04 | TrackBack
churches&bridges
Posted by aks3j at 09:04 | TrackBack
channel diagram
Posted by amk7b at 09:03 | TrackBack
preliminaries
Posted by aks3j at 09:03 | TrackBack
public space diagram
Posted by amk7b at 09:02 | TrackBack
preliminaries
Posted by aks3j at 09:02 | TrackBack
preliminaries
Posted by aks3j at 09:01 | TrackBack
Venice geostat map
Posted by amk7b at 08:52 | TrackBack
topo of attraction model
Posted by amk7b at 08:37 | TrackBack
first try.
Posted by kristy at 03:49 | TrackBack
23.09.04
Systems Research
Posted by krv3c at 17:57 | TrackBack
Virtual Venice
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/test/venice.avi
Posted by dwd4f at 15:22 | TrackBack
21.09.04
Thoughts as you frame work for Friday
This entry is an attempt to frame issues that we should address in our work for friday and beyond on both spheres of work: the wellheads/campi and the lagoon park.
In the case of both projects -- the lagoon park, where you are responding to a specific and current effort in the city, and the wellhead project, where the project's specific programming is more vauge, I would encourage you to return to the following text of our introductory statement for the semester:
Contemporary Venice is besieged by twin tides that threaten its destruction; tides of nature, and tides of man. Like any urban artifact, Venice represents temporary balance between manmade and ‘natural’ systems. Yet in Venice, unlike most cities of the developed world, this balance is visibly precarious, with problems, and possible solutions to managing urban ecology legibly illustrated.
Yet if Venice manages to survive the rising tides of its lagoon, it still faces more corrosive currents in the millions of tourists that visit the city each year. Globally, we seem to crave the history and density of urban environments as an entertainment, an antidote to the sprawling, sterile agglomerations of contemporary development. Venice is far from alone in finding itself becoming a victim, as the Italian Umberto Eco characterizes it, of the “hyper-real.” The city threatens to become a simulacrum of its own self, destined to satisfy not the curiosity of its visitors, but the onslaught of their basest expectations. Yet while we find such examples of the hyper-real erasing reality throughout the globe – fake Fakirs in front of the Hagia Sofia, Disney’s trademarked “Times Square experience” – Venice is unique in that it threatens to be obliterated not just by the character of contemporary tourism, but by its sheer volume as well.
Both these projects, as we have framed them, should propose solutions/mediations for the tides affecting the city.
For those thinking about wellheads and campi, think both sectionally and planometrically about the tides of nature and man threatening the city. How could the section of the well -- which is far greater below venice's arbitrary ground "surface" -- lead to an understanding of, and intervention in, the city's sectional response to aqua alta? How, thinking planometrically, could a system of guidance and information focusing on the wellheads quide both tourists and residents to avoid aqua alta together, and, perhaps, to avoid each other as well? How might a system of mapping/guiding allow the city to absorb unpredictable waves of tourists in a way that maintains a constant, and tolerable, pedestrian density? Could such a system be confined to wellheads alone or might it need to extend/engrave into other public surfaces -- either literally or through non-invasive means like paint/projection?
The lagoon park presents a related set of problems. There are many more qualified than us in the details of the lagoon park's administrative planning -- we will be meeting them when we arrive -- so what can we offer to the problem? The more abstract the goal -- and using a national park to help absorb both water and tourists is a fairly remote one given the logistics of implementing the park -- the more likely it is to become lost in the execution. So what systems and points can we study and STRETCH to their utmost potential in this regard? How can we use our UNfamiliarity with the lagoon to imagine ways in which objects/plans/wharves/paths/bridges can meet not only the literal requirements of transport in the northern lagoon, but also provide opportunities for understanding and mediation of tide/tourist that might not be considered by more rational or less creative souls?