Fata Morgana - A Room for Venice

Built upon the precarious substrate of water, Venice - city of maritime trade turned theme park - is both an artifact and ever shifting target. Throughout the years it has adapted to each prevailing conqueror and culture that made it a home, and its grand buildings reflect the trade wealth that transformed a collection of mud banks into an economic and maritime power. How is it that a city which has thrived and adapted to past forces of change now become frozen in time - a fata morgana. Acqua Alta itself is a constant reminder that the city of Venice is always under threat from both tourism and climate change.

A Room for Venice aims to reveal that beauty which is already present. The pavilion we designed is a floating structure of angled reflective glass that sits in front of the Piazza San Marco and in turns focuses, blurs, and reflects the existing form of the city - a fata morgana. This platform is anchored to the canal floor and rises sympathetically with the tides while its height and angle break the line of the horizon to force a new interpretation of and relationship with the water. This new horizon becomes a backdrop for social and cultural events as well as a barometer for atmospheric fluctuations. We choose glass specifically not only due to its long history of craftsmanship within the city but, because its surface - like the water - modulates between moments of clarity and tumult. It is the result of raw energy made still.