ENVELOPING VENEZIA:

A CONSTRUCT OF THE LAGOON AND ITS

LIFEBLOOD- DESTROYERS

CASSIDY BROWN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA CLASS OF 2019\ INTRODUCTION

In , , fire and water are integral elements to the foundation of the lagoon, yet both elements have the power to destroy the lagoon in their own right. The influence of fire and water catalyzed the development of Venice as a strong, powerful city that dominated trade throughout the world for over five hundred years. From the early 10th century to the 15th century, the development, the preservation of power, and the key elements in the production of trade goods can be linked back these two elements. Yet, if these elements were ever uncontrolled, could lead to the demise of the same trade, development, and production.

FIGURE 1, PIAZZA SAN MARCO ON 4 NOVEMBER 1966, PHOTOGRAPH BY ASSOCIAZIONE PIAZZA SAN MARCO

ABSTRACT

There is a dichotomy of two elements in Venice: water is both protection and it is destructive to its landscape, and fire was the creation of wealth and has destroyed that same wealth. The relationship of these elements are not obvious to today’s visitors, through focusing on Venice’s past and influence of fire and water on the city, a construct is proposed to create a space that pays tribute to the contradictory relationship Venice has with fire and water. This space will pay tribute to a furnace and share the history of its importance within the lagoon. The construct serves as a marker in the lagoon as a blaze that illuminates the sky to celebrate the furnace as an important technology in the glass-blowing industry and Venetian history. The construct will operate with an importance on revealing the integral properties of the elements through a series of masses that connect throughout to contain, illuminate, and reveal the connections between water and fire. The design intent is to create a space for experiencing the beautiful, ephemeral qualities of fire while displaying its destructive qualities, and exposing the effects of water on the Venetian landscape. The construct is centered on the preservation and display of one of the 15th century furnaces, with an integration of modern furnace technologies to create a dramatic effect for visitors to this experience.

VENETIAN TRADE HISTORY - IN BRIEF

“This mistress of the seas is a link between the East and the West, between Islam and Christianity and lives on through thousands of monuments and vestiges of a time gone by.” 1

Venice has always been a trading city. Since it is relatively isolated in terms of being self-sufficient, historically, Venice has traded its way to success. Pre-ninth century, the Venetian lagoon was mainly an agrarian society that survived off fishing and farming sea salt and grain. The key to establishing Venice as a trading port was its ability to collect sea salt. Since the water level is low and the water has high salinity, it became natural for Venetians to channel the salt water and dilute it to pure salt to sell. Salt was a desired product that kept food preserved. Early hubs develop based on its main access point to relative locations in trading. Olivio became known as the shipbuilding district, San Marco develops into the political centre, and Rialto develops as the centre for trade and exchange.

In the early tenth century, trade develops in Tunisia and Alexandria. In 1098, free trade opens and allows Venice to move goods from Tunisia and Alexandria to Syria to Armenia, and then from Armenia to Asia. The main exports from Venice at this time include silk, wood, copper, tin, hides, cloth, weapons, and metals with arsenal being the biggest enterprise. By the 12th century, Venice creates a stronghold in the Spice and Silk routes by having the monopoly on salt, wheat, wine and oil, and cane sugar.

1 Centre, U. (2019). Venice and its Lagoon. Whc.unesco.org. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394

In the 13th century, trade is being conducted by sea vessels and not overland. In Venice through the glass making industry, spectacles develop and Angelo Barovier perfects crystals. These innovations lead to glass becoming more prominent commodity to trade. Polychrome, engraving, and enameling are all invented from the glass guilds in Venice. These guilds were then moved away from the main city of Venice to the island of Murano because of the risk of fire. 2

With Marco Polo opening the silk route between Venice and the East, woolen textiles were traded in exchange for spices. Exotic goods such as porcelain, pearls, gems, and mineral dyes began flowing into Venice. These products could be used for making textiles for garments and are utilized within the glass-making industry.

Trading within Venice flourishes until around the 16th century, when Venice lost its leading role in the Asia spice trade. The city lost all of its power when Napoleon Bonaparte took control over Venice in 1797. Since then, Venice has maintained its culturally significant trades as glassmaking textiles, metal and woodworking continue to attract clientele throughout the world. Venice is full of mystery and appeal that allows the lagoon to thrive. Today, visitors gather in St. Marco’s Square to feel the political prowess that was once the powerful, almighty Venice, ride on a gondola through the distinct canals, flock to the island of Murano to learn the craft of glass-blowing, and take the vaporetto to Burano to see the lace factories and colorful piazzas. The lagoon is full of richness and romanticism that is willfully preserved for all to see. Through mindfully respecting and maintaining the land from flooding and other natural occurrences, Queen Venice can continue to reign.3

2 Theworldeconomy.org. (n.d.). The Venetian Republic. Available at: http://www.theworldeconomy.org/impact/The_Venetian_Republic.html .

3 En.unesco.org. (2019). Venice | SILK ROADS. Available at: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/venice

THE ELEMENTS AS KRYPTONITE Water is the lifeblood of Venice. The lagoon was once used as a passage into Europe from the East, and a connection point to the East from the West. Venice developed into a major trading port on the silk and salt routes due to its centralized location on water. The lagoon’s foundation is built upon timber posts and the ground is carved throughout with canals. The canal system is used as the main transportation route through the city and the lowest occupied zones of the buildings accommodate for access through the water. The city floods yearly up to 80cm, and up to 12% of the city is submerged at the highest point.4 The phenomenon Acqua Alto is explained:

“The early Venetians would have never expected that one day in the future, water was to become their most dangerous enemy and a most severe threat to the city’s existence. In fact, the first mention of ‘‘acqua alta’’ dates back to 589 A.D., but the frequency of Venice flooding has grown significantly with time, especially in the second half of the 20th century. A number of factors may account for this increase: land subsidence, both natural and anthropogenic due to groundwater overdraft 5 sea level rise due to global warming 6 and deepening of existing canals for internal navigation.”7

4 Umgiesser, G. (1999), Valutazione degli effetti degli interventi morbidi e diffusi sulla riduzione delle punte di marea a Venezia, Atti Ist. Veneto Sci. Lett. Arti, 157, 231 – 286. 5 Carbognin, L., P. Gatto, G. Mozzi, G. Gambolati, and G. Ricceri (1984), Case history no.9.3 Venice, Italy, in Guidebook to Studies of Land Subsidence Due to Ground-Water Withdrawal, edited by J. F. Poland, pp. 161 – 174, U.N. Educ. Sci. and Cult. Organ., Paris. 6 Carbognin, L., P. Teatini, and L. Tosi (2004), Eustacy and land subsidence in the Venice Lagoon at the beginning of the new millenium, J. Mar. Syst., in press. Centre, U. (2019). Venice and its Lagoon. [online] Whc.unesco.org. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394 7 Pirazzoli, P. A., and A. Tomasin (2002), Recent evolution of surge-related events in the northern Adriatic area, J. Coastal Res., 18(3), 537 – 544. Fires are known as the most dreaded natural disaster to happen within Venice, especially within the older, denser parts of the city. Most of the buildings are wooden, and exposure to fire could spread from the original source to the surrounding areas quickly, especially from above. Typically, the fires could be put out quickly due to the access of water from the canals, but since heat rises, there is always a risk of the exposed wood catching fire if a flame begins. Since Venice is such a sacred and protected city, the Venetians have been very careful in controlling fires, yet there have been hundreds that destroy precious works throughout the last thousand years. 8

FIGURE 2 OVERALL SECTION SHOWING FIRE AS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT IN THE DESIGN CONCEPT, DRAWN BY AUTHOR

8 Kirsta, A. (2001). The truth behind the burning of Venice's exquisite opera house. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/jan/27/weekend7.weekend1 Particularly, the glass-making profession was moved to the Island of Murano in the eleventh century to protect the city from fires, as well as containing the craft and trade secrets within Venice. The glass-blowing industry required heat exposure of up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which contains a lot of smoke, and the main lagoon did not want to risk the warehouses were made to catch on fire and spread to governmental buildings and residences.

Presently in the lagoon, there is only one . The fire station uses fire boats and helicopters to respond to fires. One of the most modern instances of a fire causing mass panic was the fire of La Fenice Opera House on January 29, 1996. This opera house had been in existence since the eighteenth century, and had caught on fire that night. The ’s arrived from the within three minutes from boats, and visitors began to run out quickly as the ornate, rococo interior and floors crumble and quickly blew into flames. 9 It was at La Fenice that many great works, including La Traviata, Rigoletto, and Simon Boccanegra, were first performed. The were methodical about controlling the fire from spreading and let the opera house be the only building that destroyed, and the town was saved from more disruption. This one occurrence shows how much one chemical reaction in Venice has the power of destroying not just structure- but history, culture, and lives. 10

9 Kirsta, A. (2001). The truth behind the burning of Venice's exquisite opera house. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/jan/27/weekend7.weekend1 10 Kirsta, A. (2001). The truth behind the burning of Venice's exquisite opera house. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/jan/27/weekend7.weekend1

Recounts of the fire was described as,

".....trying to put out the fires of hell with a garden hose". -Bystander, unknown

"We had to choose between the theatre and the town: it was either save La Fenice or save Venice.” - Commandante Alfio Pini, head of the Vigili del Fuoco

"It was like suddenly losing something you thought was immortal," -Riccardo Muti, musical director of 's La Scala

FIGURE 3 FIRE OF LA FENICE, OPERA HOUSE, 1997

GLASS MAKING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FURNACE AS A VENETIAN OBJECT

GLASS MAKING Glass making and the craft of producing such products is one of the biggest trades in Venice. The furnace is an important object in glass production that relies on fire and water as its catalyst. The art of glass making, just like the development of Venice, relies on a multiplicity of skills, materials, and element transformations.

SCALE The typical furnace used in Venice has changed throughout the centuries based on advancements of technology, but there are a few existing furnaces that were used in the 15th century that are still in operation today. The design of the construct is intended to center on the preservation and display of one of these furnaces.

The typical pieces of the glass-blowing furnaces:

1. The main stoke holes are the main grates of the furnace that creates the glass and can heat up to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit

2. The damper regulates the furnace and helps create and distribute airflow and pressure, which is the highest point of the furnace, and can take many forms.

3. The annealer doors cool glass in a controlled manner. These annealing doors are used for holding completed pieces, and normally these chambers are kept below 900 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. The garage can heat up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is similar to the annealing door, yet the temperature can be set to higher to reset or edit pieces, but in a more controlled way than putting them back into the main stoke holes.

5. The firebox helps maintain the degree levels throughout the furnace.

SUPPLEMENTARY TOOLS Glass making required many steps in the production process. The creation of glass products is a skillful, laborious, and hazardous job. The glass-blowing industry was contained within a guild during the period of the Silk Road to keep the industry under the professionals. To create these products, the furnace was the main component but also required other tools and machinery:

1. The punty rod is the main tool for blowing glass. It is a solid metal rod attached to hot glass. It allows for controlling, reheating, shaping, and reshaping the glass into specific forms.

2. When glass products are created through glass blowing, it is completely complicated and requires a lot of physical motions in a short time span. Each project needs at least three to four people to utilize the heat properties and chemical transformations properly. This tradition has stayed true since the ninth century.

3. The Venetians utilize benches with metal shields to protect workers, and surrounding the furnace and working station includes tweezers, powder, frits, stringers, heated racks that warms the rods, water barrels to cool the rods for different manipulation of the glass, and polishers to clean the glass in different steps of the process.

4. Ceramic clay bowls are other large-scale tools used in glass making. These are typically pots where molten glass is stored. A marver is a metal plate that is used for rolling glass, a color kiln is used to make the heated glass into different colors, and a torch is used when extra heat needs to be added to the glass to reshape it. THE CONSTRUCT FOR HOLDING THE FURNACE

The Furnace was analyzed to create a schematic- spatial construct that represents its influence on Venice.

GLASS-MAKING PROCESS AS A SPATIAL DRIVER The design intent was to create a space for experiencing the beautiful, ephemeral qualities of fire while displaying its destructive qualities, as well as exposing the effects of water on the Venetian landscape. The construct is centered on the preservation and display of one of the 15th century furnaces, with an integration of modern furnace technologies to create a dramatic effect for visitors to this experience.

FIGURE 4 FURNACE HELD IN THE CONSTRUCT, DRAWN BY AUTHOR

In creating a site for this display, the site was chosen to be directly across from the one and only fire stations on the lagoon, on the main passageway where the fire boats would be moving in and out of the Rio Ca’ Foscari. This Rico has a direct entry point to the Grand Canal, and allows for the to move conveniently throughout the lagoon effectively. The Grand Canal is known as the main and integral waterway passage that connects the entire land mass. With the site being located next to the Vigili del Fuoco, (fire station) the construct to develop an entrance from the water, as well as an access point from land. To Venetians, water is the most convenient way to travel throughout the city, and creating an entrance from the water is an important spatial idea to allow for easy access into the construct. This urban site was also chosen to be in a direct path by foot from the train station to St. Marco’s Square. St. Marco’s Square is the main public square where tourists and Venetians interact. The site allows for visitors to see the construct from the main pathway and learn about the history of Venice in an unconventional way.

FIGURE 5 SCHEMATIC PLAN, DRAWN BY AUTHOR FIGURE 6 SITE OVERALL, FROM COMMUNE DE VENEZIA In developing the plan, the design was centered on creating a place for holding the furnace, the tools needed for glass blowing, and history of the furnace in the Venetian history, while creating two access points: one from the Rio Ca' Foscari to address the water, and one from the calle (street) Sestiere Dorsoduro. To address the entry points, the design was created based upon the hand-body steps to create glass-blown materials.

In glass-blowing, pace is important to maintain when creating different shapes of glass to account for the heating effects on the glass versus the time frame in which the transformation happens. For efficiency, it is important for the workers to maintain a formulated pace, so that the hand and body movements are in unison and consistent. This utilizes the transformational qualities of heat that can react to the glass and create forms in the correct time frame. This concept was spatially integrated into the design through the entry from the water’s edge.

FIRST FLOOR SECOND FLOOR LIGHT WELL PLAN

PIVOT VESSEL/MOUTH PACE

FIGURE 5 PLANS BASED ON MOVEMENT OF THE BODY IN GLASS BLOWING, DRAWN BY AUTHOR The layout of the overhead condition contains light wells that were set at the pace of footsteps to create the feeling of a clear, fluid pattern of light qualities that ran throughout the space from the water’s edge from the boat dock.

One of the most integral movements of the hand in glass blowing is pivoting the punty rod to create the shapes of the glass. On the entry point from the calle, the overhead condition includes large light wells that were irregular shapes, when looking from the calle view. These light wells are formed in different shapes to channel and bounce unique streams of lights as a people move through the tunneled space. This creates the feeling of pivoting, as the eyes had to adjust to the different light qualities as one would move throughout the space.

FIGURE 6 PACE VERSUS PIVOTING DIAGRAM, DRAWN BY AUTHOR

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FIGURE 7 DETAILED ENTRY, DRAWN BY AUTHOR

Using the plan and entry points to drive the vessel further developed the construct. The vessel is where glass heats, and molded glass is gathered. In the construct, this is the main space in which the experience of the furnace and the ephemeral feelings of fire are created. The threshold space is completely dark, and visitors will see the light and feel the effects of smoke. After passing through this space, the water from the entry would gather around the center furnace, and visitors can travel to the second floor viewing space to see the flame illuminating into the air. Depending on the time of day of visit, the space would be completely different. Specifically, at night, the flame would be turned up and spreads to the top of the tower space, and the city would experience the construct at night, without having to be inside.

FIGURE 8 SECTIONS OF CONSTRUCT DURING SUNRISE, NOON, AND SUNSET, DRAWN BY AUTHOR CONCLUSION

Through analyzing Venetian history and dissecting the important elements within glass-making, the schematic design of holding and showcasing a furnace was designed. The site was chosen based on its proximity to water, land, and infrastructure. The plan was developed through analyzing the motions of glass-blowing into a spatial construct. The design intent was to create a space for experiencing the beautiful, ephemeral qualities of fire while displaying its destructive qualities, as well as exposing the effects of water on the Venetian landscape. The construct serves as a marker in the lagoon as a blaze that illuminates the sky to remind visitors and Venetians alike of the importance of protecting the land from natural disasters, yet praising these elements for the cultivation of its culture, wealth, and history.

SOURCES Carbognin, L., P. Gatto, G. Mozzi, G. Gambolati, and G. Ricceri (1984), Case history no.9.3 Venice, Italy, in Guidebook to Studies of Land Subsidence Due to Ground-Water Withdrawal, edited by J. F. Poland, pp. 161 – 174, U.N. Educ. Sci. and Cult. Organ., Paris.

Carbognin, L., P. Teatini, and L. Tosi (2004), Eustacy and land subsidence in the Venice Lagoon at the beginning of the new millenium, J. Mar. Syst., in press.

Centre, U. (2019). Venice and its Lagoon. [online] Whc.unesco.org. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/394

En.unesco.org. (2019). Venice | SILK ROADS. Available at: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/venice

Kirsta, A. (2001). The truth behind the burning of Venice's exquisite opera house. [online] the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/jan/27/weekend7.weekend1

Theworldeconomy.org. (n.d.). The Venetian Republic. Available at: http://www.theworldeconomy.org/impact/The_Venetian_Republic.html .

Pirazzoli, P. A., and A. Tomasin (2002), Recent evolution of surge-related events in the northern Adriatic area, J. Coastal Res., 18(3), 537 – 544.

Umgiesser, G. (1999), Valutazione degli effetti degli interventi morbidi e diffusi sulla riduzione delle punte di marea a Venezia, Atti Ist. Veneto Sci. Lett. Arti, 157, 231 – 286.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS CHAIR: Lisa Huang

CO-PROFESSORS FOR DESIGN EIGHT: Vicenza Institute of Architecture, the University of Florida

Lisa Huang: Materials and Methods of Construction Two + Design Eight

William Zajac: Analytical Sketching + Design Eight

UNDERGRADUATE COORDINATOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE: Mark Mcglothlin