THE MOVING CITY OF VENICE

VENICEAn idea to prevent the extinction of Venice and to survive for future and yet to think beyond the status quo “Venice is considered one of the most beautiful city in the world, it is well known as ‘La Dominante or The Dominant’, ‘Serenissima or the most serene’, ‘City of Water’, ‘City of Bridges’, ‘The city of Light’. The Venetian Republic was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, spice trade) and art in the 13th century until the end of 17th century.”

What would people imagine once they heard about Venice, and what if Venice is sinking? They wouldn’t straight away remember about that it was a romantic and wonderful city but rather fall into a deep sadness, the atmosphere that has been created by the culture which was emitted all around the city corridor experiences, the city of water dominance, the tranquil panorama of its historical architecture from period of Renaissance, Baroque, and Venetian gothic. Nevertheless the local artist, masks, costume events, hospitable people, local traditional food, the specific water transportation like gondola or water taxi, It was all the specific reasons why people love Venice, but in fact the local citizens are only 600.000 people approximately in comparison with the total numbers of tourists which has reached over 20 million people within 3 years, with approx. 7 million tourists per year, which altered the city condition to a peril state where the ecological system was endangered due to the high percentage of litter. Thus originated from the total numbers of the tourists and not only that, also some of the historical building were being compromised, but nonetheless the city will still need, tourism, as the grasp root or main economic support for the city itself, its set the precarious condition to the city and urge to tackle the basic problems which is inherent. Is the idea of sinking city should be evoking as the main consideration? The city gets the brief reprieve. A city that grow rapidly having the tendency to grow horizontally and filling up the urban sprawl or most of developers conclusion nowadays are to build vertical city or residences, for example Al-Burj Dubai has been developed into 160 habitable floors with approx. 826,75m height, but it shouldn’t happens in Venice, the city was characterized by significant dominant of water meandering around the small islands and ground in between, which the old town mostly condensed in certain area, like St. Marco Piazza, Rialto bridge, all the real historical stories should be preserved, what we thought that could be considered, in our proposition it was what if Venice developed in certain way and thinking of the phenomenon of sinking city, we try to suggest a moving city which offer a future possibilities of saving the local people or Venetian from extinction which tries to solve where the city that might sink at anytime, the proposal suggest the incorporation from voronoi system which serves the distribution system of a hydrogen economy where the existing building will be altered as a hydrogen producer and the new addition of several moving bridges and the new floating islands comprises of boat house, group house, which will allow future possibilities to still develop in such manner, with minimum physical change consideration and it should be provided with certain policy to preserve the historical building.

“Any floating object displaces its own weight of fluid. Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.” Archimedes of Syracuse

What needed to be solved? We proposed the moving and floated city which comprises boat house, bridge shops, house, industrial factory, as we know that Venice was the printer manufacturer since around 17th century. The system should be sufficient for local citizens which approximately 600.000 people and could again anticipate the densification issue and it at least covering about 300% from the original number, water purification system for the Adriatic sea, optimization of hydrogen energy for all vehicles, plantation of solar panels should be incorporated, as well as the usage of wind turbines, where the energy sources has to be balance with the invention of new agricultural system, new industrial system. Venice as the new moving city of culture should transcend all the old notions and move beyond that, it was what we are focusing on. It is an idea to promote the Venetian to stay in centro storico or city center of Venice and not in mainland, since 1950’s there were over than 184.000 people stay there but today maybe less than 60.000, it is another consideration to reveal the local people within the new city as their own perpetual machine for living. The issues relative to pollution in land, water, air; the local citizens are fleeing to the mainland due to lack of job opportunities, the land homes was taken by tourists for their second homes which equal to the high market price which is not affordable for them, and the highest risk among all it was the global warming issue which endangered Venice to sink because the high moisture containment in the air and land erosion which eventually one day Venice might sink, although the construction of the new barrier with the operable gate, there is fact about when Venice was founded in the year 421, the level of the Adriatic was about 5 meters (16 feet) lower than it is today.

We might say what we are trying to do in this proposition is reprogramming the city programmes where the existing fabric are being examined under conscious strategies with the prerequisite for its future possibilities of extension, alteration of the obsolete infrastructures, demolition partially, symbiotic relationship between the existing fabric with the new extension, antithesis of the physical and non-physical consideration, for example the sinking city phenomenon, new agricultural issues, new industrial issues, housing or urban sprawl in horizontal development has been obsolete and failed to serve the dynamic growth of people in Venice, therefore the new possibilities for future transportations now being introduced in the sense of vertical and horizontal manner and it were considered in the first place for future of Venice. Talking about Venice it was not only the city center which is floated in the water and separate islands like Lido Island but also the mainland area of Mestre, Marghera, Malcontenta that is possible to be an area that emphasize the agricultural processes and industrial factory that are supporting the new cycle system of Hydrogen industry, therefore the used of vehicle with Hydrogen will start to exist and also for the water transportation system it is also possible on combining the process of generating the energy from solar panel plantation and also to combine the wind turbine technology that has been developed rigorously.

In our proposition what being major concerns are described below:

1. What might hinder, delay or even cease the phenomenon of sinking? As we could see the center of Venice was predominantly covered by built form there is a need to reprogram and reconsider the percentage balance of built form which is now approx. 80% of built form that carrying dead load or weight that even faster to enhance the sinking process it should be 40% of built form and 60% being nurture as the agricultural industries which is lighter in terms of dead load that would be inherent in there, rather than letting center of Venice sinking and only be a museum as it was not able to serve the demands of the future;

2. The natural problems of high percentage of pollution in land, water, and air how to solve it? It is time firstly to rethink the process of recycling waste which has been always the mountain of problem should be reconsidered as a resources, for example construction materials, recycled material or products, bio-fuel and plants nutrition therefore there is need to have a waste collector system;

3. What would be suitable transportation for Venice? It should be a new innovation that could adhere the water transportation and maximize the use of all hydrogen vehicles and there should be a new cycle of creating hydrogen in the system of the new city in the future;

4. How can the old city grow in the future? By promoting a new built form above the old structure and it will be a light structure and material, also able to deploy from the main old structure as if it was sinking;

5. What if all the solutions given above were not able to prevent the phenomenon of Venice sinking? Therefore there is an idea of a moving city as the ultimate solution among all which will still be the distinct characters of Venice as city of water, city of light.

Venice city vision layout was derived through basis of understanding how could a city of water can austere the existing condition it is comprises of:

1. Alteration of the local house which predominantly consist of 5th storey and tear down 3 storeys above and keep 1 storey for house under the agricultural house industry that produces hydrogen as the main energy source;

2. Boat house, it is formed from a renewable source from waste and incorporated with the hydroponic planting system while having the independent energy from process of transforming humanure into a heat energy, combine with solar panel addition, recycle the organic waste into hydrogen energy to balance the needs of electricity for the individual boat house; Bridge shops, houses, industrial factory which served as a trade center support for their economy for local citizen and inviting tourists to be part of the experience; and

3. Hydrogen infrastructure for future transportations in the sense of vertical and horizontal manner and hydrogen distribution through the city;