W.A.Ve 2015 Final Exhibition • Workshop Morpurgo de Curtis "The memory of the present New uses and relationships for Poveglia island, underexposed archeology"

An undefined Heritage? Relationships and memories are necessary materials in order to know the present, to restore missing links. Within the archipelago of small islands spread in southern venetian lagoon, Poveglia stands for the last habitable land before the outlet to the open sea in Alberoni. As a part of a landscape made of small fortifications (the so-called octagons and other defensive structures) overseeing this part of the lagoon with their mongrel heritage, cultural and natural connections, Poveglia -deserted and up for a collective reuse- is now divided between its belonging to the urban system of the islands along Santo Spirito canal and the proximity to Malamocco, a village on the extreme piece of land between the lagoon's geography and the open sea. Differently from the morphological and architectural preeminence of the biggest islands shaping Venice, Poveglia stands as a kind of a minor ruin, a fragment of a wider system of relics from a prior civilization. As an extreme -but not less important- find of an urban “underexposed” archeology, Poveglia is an interesing case study thanks to the conditions characterizing the venetian lagoon's archipelago as a whole: the permanence of the anthropogeographic space's fundamentals and its architectural plurality. Such a mongrel results from the unceasing reconstruction and transformation of the lagoon city along its ancient traces; from the linguistic blending and buildings layering; from the settling of urban soil traces and civil, religious and military architectures; from the open, relational and agricultural spaces sequence. Poveglia as a combination of architectural fragments and historical conditions floating on a wide “water square” is as well a special infrastructure belonging to the ancient strongholds system along the waterways innervating the lagoon landscape, a sequence of points outlining a widespread net between islands and mainland. Along these lines, Poveglia island is the missing link between Venice and the southern lagoon, an interrupted architecture readable as a sample for the regeneration of this anthropogeographic landscape. Project's scope • Fundamentals Poveglia consists of three islands carved out of an original unit: the fortificated octagon is the system's caput to South and the lagoon's outlet to the open sea; the central island, characterized by a variety of buildings and structures; the northern island, separated from the main one by a canal and marked only by the traces of an ancient agricultural use. The three areas were connected by several bridges, of which only one remains between the central and the northern island. The small islands' tense sequence -marking the intermittent transition between water and land, nature and artifice- requires a design approach based on a dialogue between the legacy of the past and the new intervention, on interaction between landscape and built space as a tool to control the transformation and the relationship between architecture and its site. The architectural plurality -in other words, the interaction between the recognizible ruins spread on Poveglia island- shapes a kind of archeological yard made of fragments. These pieces can be recomposed in a mosaic, symbol of the possibility to transform the fragments in a figure, combining the “tiny lasted debris”, as Leon Battista Alberti stated, in a project that refounds this island-architecture, site of the Venice lagoon's multiple identities, where geography is history. The project of an architectural mongrel turns in a narrative modification of the existing through the “re-writing” of the ancient buildings and traces. New uses and architectures can be invented recognizing, isolating and recomposing the fragments or “tiles” of buildings and infrastructural fabrics from the past, in order to actualize and shaping them in a new mosaic, with its architectures, uses and memories. Design theme • Foundations The project for the regeneration of Poveglia island is based on the proposal of a multidisciplinary Observatory of the lagoon's architecture uf urban landscape and his infrastructures. The system includes: − general landscape and docks design on the islands composing Poveglia, including pathes and bridges − reuse of the existing buildings and integration with new architectures, activities and public structures − eventual study of a temporary physical connection with Malamocco village New functions include: − a “periscope”: public site to observe the lagoon − research workshops for archive and documentation − specialized library-mediatheque and 300 seat auditorium − temporary residences and facilities for researchers