Surviving in Venice

The Republic of Venice was built in an environment that was conceptually and physically hostile to man; the lagoon. In this particular environment of unstable terrain, continually subject to rising and falling tides, with an extremely high level of brackish humidity, no possibility of obtaining food and no drinkable water, Venice grew and prospered for more than one thousand six hundred years.

The example of Venice, as it was built, is an exemplary model of how a society can adapt to living and thriving in adverse environmental and climatic conditions.

The positive methods and behaviour of Venetian labour in the historic city is still relevant today, and can point to new strategies for future societies. Indeed, this model, fundamentally based on mutual help and problem-solving, should be studied and analysed to develop new conceptual foundations for contemporary and future urban development. The book presents an architectural description of a good-practice system for urban design, based on the unique and historic city of Venice.