Venice Semester Project

Samantha Massey

Professor: Bill Sherman & Ali Fard

Semester: Fall 2022

Type: Semester Project

This project calls the Veneto to “Experience Ponte della Libertia”, the 3-kilometer-long bridge connecting but, rather isolates the islands of the lagoon from the mainland, Mestre. Born from the interactive study of the lagoon and its close ties to both the foundation of the landforms of Venice and its continued survival, this meandering path “bridges” the gap through moments for community, ecology and culture. Mirroring the previous main entrance on the side of Lido, this intervention provides landmarks along the infrastructure for pause and collaboration drawing the traveler back into the setting’s codependent relationship with its environment. Currently, tremendous flows at various speeds converge on the structure to provide an experience that is disorienting. With the addition of the path, all the individualities of the entangled streets, energized Campos and waterside reflection are transported to the lagoon. The tension of the sharp divide left the existing pedestrian routes desolate. Maximizing on this tension through materiality and structure, the design touches lightly on an infrastructure heavy into the ground. This experiential ribbon returns the traveler to the opportunities of the journey rather than the disassociated destination.

My project recognizes the tension of two forces by dispersing the tension of concentrated flows across the divide to further a connection between humans and their environment.

A study of the different experiential flows of the bridge connecting Venice to the mainland shows little attention to place and being. These flows, so compacted take away from the tremendous void that separates the two parties. With further realignment to place, the bridge could provide a space for community, ecology and history.

Harnessing the nature of the labyrinth of streets making the experience of Venice unique, the bridge’s flows were manipulated to allow for pause, meandering and even getting lost somewhere you would have never discovered otherwise.

This system comes together to coordinate many moving parts. New modes of experience, moments for reflection and realignment to the lagoon’s complexities are provided through new guidelines and field conditions. A greater system governs behind the scenes the movements of the path along important sectional and planar moves. The field condition of poles, most already in existence among the lagoon today, played a role in support this new growth in urbanity among the natural environment.

  • EXISTING BRIDGE

  • BIKE AND PEOPLE MOVER

  • VAPORETTO

  • PEDESTRIAN PATH

  • PONTE EXPERINCE

  • FIELD OF POLES

  • CATCH FISH

  • MARSH PROTECTION

  • NO WAKE WARNING

  • SECURE BOATS

  • TIDE MONITORING

  • STRUCTURAL SUPPORT

The growth of life celebrates where the city of Venice came from and where it is today, providing its visitors with a realignment to what makes this man-made island one of a kind.

Once exploring the space for growth beyond the current pedestrian path of the bridge, opportunity for sectional study presents itself as well. More room for connection is provided as the ribbon system wraps itself delicately around the heavy, hard structure of the concrete bridge. New sectional perspectives bring people closer to the intricacies of the relationship between the lagoon and the Venetians. Then viewing the monumentality of the Lagoon’s mass is understood like no other above the traffic in a campanile of the water. These experiences and more can be explored through a reimagining of the space beyond the infrastructure.

An up close and personal look at the invisible backbone of the tourism industry helps to rid visitors of the illusion of a fantasy land without the threats and hardships of the real world.

Manipulation by the pushing and pulling of flows in model form inspired an experimental outlook on the design process.

Iterative Work

  • Timeline - Education

  • Interactive Education Board Game

  • Experiential Collage

  • Lagoon as a Park

  • "Rain, Steam and Speed - The Western Great Railway" - J.M.W. Turner

My project proposes the implication of a new landscape seemingly irrational. Thriving constructions like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence tell us these infrastructures continue to provide important commerce to space otherwise lost. This introduction to the bridge connecting Venice to its mainland could do the same with added benefits of accessibility, community and a demonstration of the lagoon and Venice’s mutual relationship for centuries.

Photo by Bill Sherman in Venice 2019.

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