(E)merging layers in Venice : the potential of one landscape and single raw material

“The difference between past and present [...] is reflected in the fact that the past is experienced now. [...] The individual layers of the city are those which uncovered appear as the indigenous and eternal substance of life, the unchanging pattern” (Rossi, 1984, p. 56). We always come across something, never nothing. Each place has its atmosphere and history. It is often magnificent and intense; other times, it may be initially elusive. But if we keep listening, sooner or later, every place will start talking. The place always dictates the result; we never try to impose something not rooted in it. In this way, we discover, interpret and add new stories to what already exists. Architecture always refers to nature even when nature is not noticeable. Present paper analyses, through the description of a didactic activity, the concept of Fragility at different layers, environmental, material, and relational. Based on a diverse design approach exemplified by the results of each team of workshop participants, he argues that glass is a resilient material, and this characteristic transforms its superficial fragility into innovative antifragility.