Studios.
Our MArch course spans two years, with each cohort beginning in a combined vertical studio. From this starting point, the two studios then take on parallel briefs to explore differing topics and typologies each year.
Year 01:
Anti-Museum: L’edificio Del Popolo
Introduction:
The MArch Year 1 brief uses the city of Venice as the location for our investigations. The architectural proposals aim to emphasise the importance of preserving Venice as a thriving, liveable city – a place where the local population can flourish, and their unique identity can be safeguarded against the pressures of global tourism. Currently there are one thousand more beds for tourists than those for local residents.
​
The brief advocates for a holistic approach, one that celebrates Venice’s local identity by enhancing its existing urban fabric. Rather than transforming the city into a museum, the brief proposes reinforcing its role as a dynamic and authentic urban centre. The goal is to nurture an environment where Venetians can live, work, and socialize in harmony with their surroundings.
The Project:
In this endeavour, students will explore strategies that prioritize the needs of the community, focusing on sustainable urban planning, cultural preservation, and ethical considerations. Their approach seeks to strike a balance between preserving historical significance and embracing contemporary needs; by enhancing accessibility for diverse local residents, integrating modern amenities while respecting Venice’s historical context, and revitalizing existing spaces to serve the community, we aim to create a Venice that is not only resilient but also inclusive.
The design projects will centre on creating buildings tailored exclusively for Venice’s local residents, deliberately contrasting the concept of a museum. In addition to this, the project will encompass accommodation that is integrated within a densely populated urban context. Re-use and appropriation are strongly encouraged. The more speculative strand of our programmatic research will focus on the idea of designing open and accessible buildings to respond to a greater variety of users and an attempt to rediscover a meaningful expressive dialogue between the built environment and its cultural and societal context.
Year 02:
Museum: Everything That Is Not Saved Will Be Lost.
Introduction:
Venice stands as an unparalleled testament to artistry and technical achievement. This ancient labyrinthine maritime city possesses an allure that has beckoned travellers, artists, and scholars for centuries. In this architectural brief we embark on an intellectual and technical enquiry – one that challenges the essence of Venice’s urban identity. The proposition is to reimagine Venice as an expansive urban museum, thereby orchestrating a profound transformation of the city itself into a dedicated single cultural institution through the design of discrete interventions.
This project ventures into the realm of redefinition – a endeavour that compels you to contemplate the city as a dynamic canvas where the past, present, and future converge. To consider Venice not solely as a living city but as a contiguous, immersive museum, where the cityscape itself becomes the primary artefact, and every bridge, canal, and square tells an indelible story of human ingenuity and cultural heritage.
The Project:
As we investigate the intricate facets of this undertaking, we will examine urban planning, cultural preservation, and ethical discourse. Each aspect demands not only creative impetus but also consideration of the historical and contemporary implications. This architectural brief hopes to explore a multitude of challenges and opportunities, including issues of accessibility for diverse audiences, the creation of welcoming entry points that seamlessly blend with Venice’s historical fabric, the development of sustainable and adaptive urban infrastructure, the thoughtful adaptation of existing buildings, the reimagining of industrial areas as cultural assets, and understanding contemporary quandaries afflicting museums, particularly with regard to ownership, provenance, and colonial legacies. In the unique context of Venice’s storied history, this project demands a commitment to cultural sensitivity. It necessitates a nuanced examination of how the city’s narrative intersects with the broader discourse on colonialism and its repercussions on cultural heritage.
In reimagining Venice as an urban museum through your individual design proposal, you will contribute to a much-needed conversation on the dynamic role of cities in preserving and celebrating our shared cultural heritage.
Programmatically the brief asks to design a museum building and associated accommodation in a highly dense city context, focusing on the facades, public realm (internally and externally) and the internal spaces of the exhibition halls. Re-use and appropriation of existing buildings and infrastructure are strongly encouraged, depending on the location you choose. The rejection of iconicity and tectonic hierarchy must be matched by reasoned methodology.