the lake of venice

The Venice lagoon is a mutable space, in transition between land and water. It is due to the constant work of modification and maintenance – from large enterprises carried out by the Republic, to widespread micro-interventions by fishermen, millers, and farmers – that it has not disappeared entirely. If the lagoon is a palimpsest where a tangible system of regulatory works has been developed over the last six centuries, then its future will not only need to engage with current strategies and schemes, but with all the projects and ideas that have been historically positioned there.

Predicated on recent arguments for an alternative history of Venice – from speculations on the future to design the present, to the enormous historical legacy of designs that can be discovered by studying the evolution of the lagoon – this book explores another possible lagoon based on a series of missed projects and future hypotheses. Venice lagoons conceived and documented but never completed, or only partially realized, offer the opportunity to imagine or legitimize an alternative future. This is approached with the awareness that many design ideas have already accumulated in archives and settled in places, and that the current challenges – from the pressure of tourism, economic crises, health emergencies, environmental degradation, and the risks associated with climate change – are by no means unprecedented.

Edition: 2022