Juxastructures, morphological tourism

Maps, as their intention, aim to inform about physical qualities of place. However, for Venice, I would argue that although morphologically correct (to an extent) maps depicting the island are an inaccurate representation of place as an experience. 

Instead, accurate depiction of Venice can only be represented through cognitive mapping of "juxastructures": Whether, juxtaposition of bridge structures, juxtaposition of monumental structures, juxtaposition of 'open' structures, etc. 

The following maps interest me because, although also attempting to be morphologically accurate, they attempt to anchor the place through juxastructures by calling attention to specific areas of the island. 

Moreover, cognitive maps begin to allow the reader to experience Venice through not only morphological lenses, but also through anthropological and sociological lenses:

My point of interest is not one location, rather it is a fabric that is held by the seams of the main anchors of Venice: Piazza San Marco, Doge's Palace, Rialto Bridge, Santa Maria Della Salute, etc.

venice is unnatural-morphological tourism

Maps

   Cannaregio
    Castello
    Dorsoduro
    San Marco
    San Polo
    Santa Croce

Venezia, the fish, encircled by a land barrier?

A wall around the city of Venice?

The public space is Venice. At least, in the past it was.

Some History

-Most of these piles were made from trunks of alder trees,^[30] a wood noted for its water resistance.^[31] The alder came from the westernmost part of today's Slovenia (resulting in the barren land of the Kras region), in two regions of Croatia, Lika and Gorski kotar(resulting in the barren slopes of Velebit) 

-The city is often threatened by flood tides pushing in from the Adriatic between autumn and early spring. Six hundred years ago, Venetians protected themselves from land-based attacks by diverting all the major rivers flowing into the lagoon and thus preventing sediment from filling the area around the city. This created an ever-deeper lagoon environment.

My Special Place-Places

the vaporetto

the colorful island

an empty public space

a future home

dining in the harbor

celebrating a dingy space

some residue and texture

Profondita della Laguna-Morphological Tourism

The following three images show the progression of water levels in the Venice Lagoon over the time span of 1930-2011. The darker blue tones mean the depth of the water is deeper, and subsequently the lighter the tone means the water is shallow at that location.

I recognized that over the years, the water surrounding within the Arsenale di Venezia area has been getting shallower. I'm referring to the square shaped zone on the north east side of main island of Venice. This is different from all of the other water levels in Venezia because in general the water level has been getting deeper over years. This intrigued me, so I have chosen the Venetian Arsenal as my point of interest and I plan to investigate why the water level has been reacting so differently in this area. It may be caused by man, but it would be interesting to find out if it was due to natural causes.

Depth of Venice Lagoon-1930

Depth of Venice Lagoon-1970

Depth of Venice Lagoon-2011

Link to these maps and more:

http://www.silvenezia.it/?q=maps#tema-4-titolo

Marco Pological Tourism

 Venice is an ever changing place.  Constructed as a web of labyrinthine streets, it would appear as if this city can never be experienced in the same way twice.  It is this idea of constant renewal, through new experiences and layers of historical memory, that drives Invisible Cities and Marco Polo's conversation with Kublai Kahn.  Each city described by Polo holds some new excitement, although they might be more similar than they seem.  Clues in this book have lined up with descriptions of Venice from another book, Venetian Legends and Ghost Stories, including that of a bridge destroyed both during a nuptial parade for the Marquis of Ferrara and during an uprising led by Bajamonte Tiepolo that has since been built a third time.  On this, Marco Polo says, "The city does not consist of this [the architecture], but of relationships between the measurements of its space and the events of its past:...the line strung from the lamppost to the railing opposite the festoons that decorate the course of the queen's nuptial procession;...the story of the gunboat of the usurper..." P. 10.  Such alignments and descriptions hold places where the layers of time may be seen.  Between the two books, the commentary from Marco Polo (1271) and the Venetian Legends (2004), I'm interested in exploring the possibility of finding clues within the new to create my own image and memory of Venice, one like those in the collection of Marco Polo, by wandering through the streets and parts of town he may have been perpetually describing.

Taken from Venetian Legends and Ghost Stories, this map works to layout a certain pathway one might take to view of string of story settings in the Marco Polo area.  It's within this map that I would like to begin, focusing specifically on the Malibran Theater (3), where the Polo family used to live, and, as a landmark on the path, the Rialto Bridge.   

This map has a kind of fantastical aspect to it.  It depicts some sort of sea monster and makes the Venetian fleet huge.  It is some creator's view of Venice, his story, not unlike Marco Polo's.

This map also depicts Venice in a particular way.  It works to, again, show the strength of the Venetian ships and ports.  It is another story.

This map illustrates the labyrinthine nature of Venice. 

Vertical Separation - Morphological Tourism

Venice, sometimes thought of as the city of no walls, has always been a place of global cultural interaction, largely due to its role as a center for trade throughout the 9 - 12th centuries.  The founding principles of the city are based on this strong influence from other countries, which is probably the reason that Venice was the only city in Italy that was free from religious fanaticism in the 16th century.

The first Jewish ghetto was formed in Venice in 1516.  Although the Jewish people were not granted Venetian citizenship, this place served as a cultural hub for those seeking religious freedom.  This part of the city eventually became a completely segregated sector.  Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, five synagogues were constructed in the ghetto, each one representing a different ethnic group: Scola Grande Tedesca, Scola Canton, Scola Italiana, Scola Levantina, Scola Spagnola.  This area eventually became so dense that the buildings were forced to expand upward when the ghetto could no longer support the population.  When Napoleon Bonepart came to Venice, he decreed the end of Jewish segregation and allowed the Jewish people to finally become citizens of Venice.

Map from 1800

Present day map

My experience in Italy, thus far, has been a culture of very strict theological views.  I thought it was interesting that the actually open geography of Venice would yield a more tolerant and open religious culture.  However, segregation did divide the people of Venice, both culturally and physically for some time.  This separation was actually able to create a spatial difference within the topography of Venice, due to the building of larger buildings within the ghetto.  This is a hub for Jewish people all over the world and has been able to survive for 500 years without losing significance.

A Remaining Bridge - Morphological Tourism

Ponte di Rialto

 History:
- The bustling market present in Rialto was marked by its entrance, a bridge painted by Carpaccio, which was replaced by a stone arch in the late 15th century. The first streets of Venice were made of dirt and garbage, people threw their trash out of their windows. These unreliable streets
were not usable during the frequent high tides and damp weather.  Most people went out on horses, so bridges in Venice were originally built without steps. The garbage amounted to massive quantities, so pigs openly roamed the street to control the trash.  To solve the problem of clean water, rainwater was gathered
by the pilele, white stone stripes that run along the walls of the city. Rain was  also collected in wells dug into the sandbanks of Venice and subterranean cisterns. When rain water was not enough, Venetians collected water from the Brenta River.
>> http://people.umass.edu/latour/Italy/VeniceUrbanHistory/


Questions:
-Which was firsts of the islands to become part of the Venice we know today?
-Has land been redistributed from the surrounding area to fill up the more important center of the islands? Or, has that land been lost to flooding?

Hypothesis:
-There only seems to be one bridge in the map from the year 1150 which is called Ponte di Rialto across the Canal Grande. I suspect that it has been an anchor point in the past and the present.

Casa di Reclusione Femminile- Morphological Tourism

Le Convertite aka Casa di Reclusione Femminile in Venezia

The year was 1534 when Le Convertite was founded and became a convent and a hospice for "tainted" women and reformed prostitutes. The institution then became notorious due to Fra Giovanni Pietro Leon who basically molested 400 nuns. It was said he would "test" them on their temptation but then if they resisted he would "congratulate" them but actually imprison and punish them until they gave in. This man was later beheaded after 13 axe strikes and a final knife cut to finish off the gruesome beheadment. This beheadment took place in Piazza de San Marco.

 

 

Where the women's prison exists to this day

 

A detail in a ~1635 map of the original convent.

Venice- Museo di Storia Naturale

Museo di Storia Naturale

As stated in several reviews its a very modern re-interpretation of the natural history of the region. The city of Venice is seemingly a living organism, one that grows, shifts, and adapts to its immediate surrounds. The aspects of water has not only carved out to topographic identity, but also nurtured a unique culture.  A museum that characterizes that evolution is one that delves into both architectural roots and cultural influx. 

Venetian Culture in Urbanity - Morphological Tourism

Whose Culture?
For the past century, the population of Venice has been steadily decreasing.  While the city's local population numbers at 60,000, the city receives over 22 million tourists each year.  Although this may seem financially beneficial, there have been a series of negative side-effects.  While the city's carrying capacity is a little less than 11 million, it is not uncommon during peak seasons for this to be overcome; the city's infrastructure and current layout is not planned for this.  Massive tourism has also resulted in very high living and housing costs, which dissuades many from living in the city; this is in addition to the government's focus on building and infrastructure projects that are geared towards tourism, not the local population and as a result the environment as a whole has suffered: traditional Venetian crafts and arts have been steadily decreasing and ecosystems around the city suffer damages.  Furthermore, the city's tourism structures towards the past, which combines with the limited space to produce a disfavor towards modern infills or designs.

http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/FIELD/Venice/pdf/rapporto3%20very%20high%20res.pdf



Questions.....
How could future design accommodate the needs of the local population while preserving the strong tourism?
----How can we improve the dialogue between policymakers and the community?
----How can the traditions of Venice be reinvigorated?

In what ways could modern design integrate into the city's fabric?


Places
-Ca' Foscari
-Church of San Lorenzo
-San Giorgio Maggiore
-Palazzo Dario
*Photoshop has decided to crash and refuses to open for me, so a map of my proposed itinerary will be late in coming....


Maps

16th Century, Drawn by Piri Reis

1677

1800

1913--a bridge to the mainland was constructed

1932

The Venetian Ghetto- Morphological Tourism

Ghetto Nuova and Ghetto Vecchio, the Venetian Ghettos (the world's first ghetto), was an area prescribed as the living place for the Jewish people of the Venetian Republic. It was created in 1516. The Jewish people went through many economical and social persecutions throughout this development of the Ghetto. The people of Venice even went so far as to lock the ghetto gates at night, and force the Jewish people into select professions. 

Although it was used as an area to segregate the Jewish people, it was also thought of as a refuge. Many Italian Jews sought relief from anti-semitism in other areas of Italy here. Under the reign of Napoleon, the ghetto gates were taken off, and the Jewish people were given equal status. It was also a save havens from the Holocaust during WWII, after Italy's fall from the Axis power.

The Italian term "Ghetto" comes from the word "slag," which was stored on the small island that the Jewish people were subjected to live on. It is also closely associated with the term "borough".

Bridge leading to the Ghetto. The gate hinges can still be seen.

Ghetto Nuova

I am interested in the relationship this island now has with the entirety of Venice. Is it still segregated in more ways than the people that live there? What makes it stand apart from the other neighborhoods? Does the island strive to stand apart? 

This leads to other questions. Does each island have it's own experience, or is this conglomeration of islands thought of as one mass? Are the canals more than just physical boundaries? 

Current map marking the Jewish Ghetto

Close up of the Jewish Ghetto and it's context

Year unknown, post-train station. 1900s?

1800 map