by Margherita Vanore (Università Iuav di Venezia)
with a comment by Stefano Tornieri (Università Iuav di Venezia)
respondent: Laura Cipriani (Delft University of Technology – TU Delft)
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Hydrogeological instability and various calamities increasingly direct the pursuit of so-called “best practice” in respect of maintenance and safety of the territory. The complexity of the phenomena we are observing, however, demands upstream reflection, so that research can extend the field of investigation beyond the specificity of “technical solutions” to encompass values as well as natural processes. As a living expression of cultures and practices that combine in a systemic vision that is capable of supporting beauty as well as sustainable living and production environments, the landscape is an essential referent in respect of current and future problems. In this regard, it is essential to understand and enhance the role of cultural and environmental heritage that is defined by water. The history of soil modeling has transmitted to us a heritage of technical forms, born of water management and aimed both at particular production processes and at making the territory safe. Revisiting water landscapes in all their complexity— in particular those of the river belt, agricultural reclamation, lagoons and delta areas — and foregrounding their heritage values can generate new design approaches capable of protecting and enhancing the landscape itself. In such cases, the project can only be based on a specific process of reading, redesigning and reinterpreting the physical and phenomenal characters of places, and in particular earthworks, “soil architecture”, built for different typologies of water management, use and production, historically and in the present. Water landscapes are still governed by an infrastructural system that ensures the life and the hydrogeological balance of emerged lands.
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Margherita Vanore
Architect and PhD, Full Professor in Architectural and Urban Design at the Università Iuav di Venezia, she teaches for the degree courses in Architecture and at the SSIBAP School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage. She conducts research on the project for the contemporary city, the landscape and the historical-cultural heritage and was in charge of the local research unit for PRIN 2015 The city as cure and the care of the city. In the Iuav Excellence Department of “Architecture and Arts”, she coordinates the laboratory PRIDE_Pro Research in Integral Design Environment for the Research Infrastructure IR.IDE.
Among her publications: Suoli urbani all’ombra dei viadotti (2002), Infrastrutture Culturali (2010); Archaeology’s Places and Contemporary Uses (2011-12-13), Heritage of Water. Patrimonio e paesaggi di bonifica (2015), Necessità dell’oblio. Patrimoni e paesaggi costruiti dall’acqua (2016) Paesaggi in produzione tra terra e acqua (2018), Architetture e spazi di sottovia (2019), Forme e spazi del benessere tra risorse, modelli, regole e valori (2019), Il valore della variazione (2020), Città-paesaggio (2021),#CURACITTÀ Venezia vs Marghera e la città-paesaggio(2021).
Stefano Tornieri, Master Degree in Architecture in 2010, Ph.D in architectural composition in 2015 at University Iuav of Venice. During the doctoral studies he is Visiting Fellow at CEAU (study center architecture and urbanism) at FAUP University of Porto. Actually he is Research Fellow at IR.IDE (Infrastructure Research Integral Design environment) of University Iuav of Venice. At the same time he is founder of Babau Bureau, Architecture and Landscape Bureau in Venice, nominated at the EU Mies Van Der Rohe Award 2019 and curator of Grenada Pavilion at the 17 biennale of Venice.
Laura Cipriani is assistant professor in Landscape Architecture at TU Delft. She has taught landscape architecture and landscape urbanism for a decade at IUAV, Politecnico di Milano, National University Singapore, Venice International University, and the University of Padua. She holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Architecture (Hons) from IUAV (2001), a Master in Design Studies (Hons) on landscape and urban studies from Harvard Design School (2004), a Ph.D. in Urbanism from IUAV (2008). From 2009-2012 she was awarded the EU Marie Curie research grant (ass. prof. level), and since 2014 she has had the Italian Associate Professorship title. Her interest is currently on marginal landscapes of crisis – landscapes which are affected by several climatic, environmental, social and economic states of crisis and which require a holistic approach.
