VENICE

“Architecture is nothing, if it is not linked to its country, its beauty and its problems” Oscar Niemeyer Between 2000 – 2005… The Venetian government decided to plan the “tracciato della sublagunare” – a metro for Venice. But Venice is the „city of water” and more than 50.000 tourists per day want to experience the town and its unique canals by gondola or vaporetto. People want to visit Venice on the water, not underneath it…

The metro would be created for a different group of travellers…

It creates a possibility to reach and leave any place of the city in the shortest time. A new attraction for inhabitants and business people is offered. Today there is only little space to live and work on the main island. Most of the Venetians live on the southern Giudecca. If the group of everyday people in Venice will change from being predominantly tourists to being a common mixture of workers, inhabitants and visitors an alteration in the city structure will occur naturally.

New areas with different uses will be needed. Maybe parts of the huge harbour area will transform into a new business park. The Guidecca canal can shrink and make space for new housing areas…finally a new age for Venice will rise.

The Metro-stations will be just the first step of the city transformation. Therefore they should be more than just a dark hole in the water. Underneath the water they should welcome the passengers ( IV) but above they are set to rise just like the campaniles of Venice.

Inside the station a space for information and communication will be created. On their way up the voyagers will have the chance to acquire information about new city projects within the 3d-boxes (V), relax in the resting areas (III) and finally on top of the metro-towers(I) be rewarded with a panoramic view over the whole island.

The metro-campaniles will be more than just a station.

It will be a meeting point for tourists, business people and inhabitants and furthermore it will function as an information network spread across the Venetian island.

The surface of the tower’s façade will render homage to the city’s characteristic image. It consists of the typical Venetian brick structure which disintegrates in front of the lounge areas and makes space for the visitors view. Combined with white concrete elements the tower will not only manifest the new age of Venice, but should also generate an association to the bright marble plates traditional Venetian architecture.

The staircase is an advancement of Caminadas staircase for the girls’ boarding school of the abbey Disentis. It winds itself up changing the visitors view towards another direction of the island with every storey. Thereby the staircase consequently develops its sculptural appearance and ultimately ends in the impressive presentation of the Venetian island.