Study of Venice

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 under-

explored 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

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 di

over the edge, with wooden piles pierced deeply into

strict

Typical Fondamenta

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

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

himself through the

seemingly endless

Typical Calle

Calle sketch Calle sketch

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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.

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.

...map, full of symbols, that one would hardly miss...

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 good-

transferring-carts. This inaccessibility of the public

on daily basis reserved Calli exclusively to the

groups of Venetians who live along that particular

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.

A street in Venice - John Singer Sargent

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

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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

churches undergoing subtle and

carefully-planned 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

Campo

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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).

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

void vs solid

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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

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

Campiello

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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,

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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 money-

driven 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

Celik, Z. Favro, D and Ingersoll, R (1994) Streets Critical Perspectives on Public

Space. 1st Ed. California: The Regents of the University of California.

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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Appendix

Private space invading Public space

Midnight drifters

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