ROMANTIC BRUTALISM

The key theme of the W.A.Ve. 2016 International workshop was the Marghera industrial hub. Since its foundation, the industrial hub has undergone a process of detachment from the surrounding territory, both towards the Venetian hinterland on which it stands, consisting of a towns belt, and the overlooking lagoon system, composed of the historic city centre of Venice, the islands and the lagoon. Today, as a result of the progressive abandonment of certain areas of the industrial port, follows the partial loss of meaning of the infrastructural support and some of these enclosures, which need to be retought and redisegned as connecting elements rather than splitting elements.

The aim of the workshop was to build a new possible spatial scenery starting from the scale of the buildings pursuing a new dimension of this future archeology and defining a transit situation that could lead Porto Marghera towards its complete environmental regeneration.

The project area consists of a huge warehouse which is an element that stiffens the border built on the western industrial canal. It closes the service area behind it.

The existing building is like a militar bastion in its opaque configuration. The references are those of brutalism, of bare concrete, and the building is scanned by huge concrete ribs that we wanted to highlight.