To quote from the competition guidelines:
The
competition’s challenge is to create a typical symbol – in this case, a
bridge – of the structure of a city that has great historic value – in
this case, Venice – which involves a new kind of use - in this case, a
museum. This new element should “speak” of its own small urban universe
while at the same time it should “celebrate” the city, whether by
association or disassociation.
The “Bridge-Museum” to be designed
is meant to be part of the efforts that are taking place nowadays in
many cities around the world as “fusion projects”, in which an attempt
is made to renovate the organizational configuration of an area
–neighborhood, sector or center fallen into disuse or that has not grown
at the same pace as others – through the implementation of new uses, in
order to make it more dynamic. This is why this Bridge-Museum tries to
revitalize an important area of Venice (the entry into the city from the
most important side of the “Great Channel”) while it proposes a new
facade that can be seen from the east and which serves as an entry
portal from which one can appreciate the beginning of the enormous
zigzagging facade created by the inverted “s” that is formed by the
“Great Channel”.
At the same time it aims to reinforce the existing route that connects many streets that
link together to create a virtual axis that unites (from the southwest
to the northeast) the entire central area of the neighborhood (sistieri)
of San Marcos, passing through the Francesco Morosini square (or
campo), the Campo San Angelo, the Campo Manin, the Campo San Salvador,
to end after crossing the “Rialto” Bridge, at the great Campo San
Giacomo.
In this way the new route would include a walk through
the different monuments already in place, leaving the Contemporary
Museum for the end of the route, turning the route into the experience
of beginning at one milestone (the Rialto Bridge) to end at another: the
new “Museum-Bridge” of La Academia.
The idea of locating a
complementary program in the bridge gives the city the possibility of
using it in a more dynamic way. One which makes travel from one side to
the other not just an interesting spatial experience, but also one that
has a cultural and living function that invites people to stop, be and
stay inside a contemporary architectural structure which reflects upon
the history – past and future – of the city of Venice.
Another
objective of the "Museum Bridge" is that the city's users may experiment travel over the Channel as an experience that is not ephemeral or
transitory (as it is now), but as a way to enter – at a different scale-
into the very history of Venice, expressed through its buildings and
palaces.
The Project must therefore create an avant-garde
awareness regarding urban renewal, planned recycling, and intervention
in important historic heritage sites. This project, as we mentioned
before, will become part of the public initiative of the Commune of
Venice for the integrated development of the city towards the future.
For additional details of the competition please scroll to the bottom of the page.
