TPA participation in the 9th International Architectural Exhibition of the "Biennale di Venezia" -August 2004- under the subject "Metamorphoses of Cities on water".

Metamorphoses of Cities on Water

Only by flying over them, or, less spectacularly, looking at aerial and satellite images, is it possible to realize at a single glance the extent to which our cities have changed in recent decades.

Cities that were subject to profound changes in the shift from the industrial to the post-industrial are now at the centre of further radical changes. These often affect less structured areas, which have lost their original function or see this weaken and are afflicted by dangerous processes of environmental decay. In this context, many cities that are in close contact with water have become extraordinary laboratories of interesting experiments and innovative solutions to recover a higher quality of urban life: a rediscovery of the water in many projects in various parts of the world.

The 'metaphoric' phenomenon here takes on a double meaning. There is, on the one hand, a physical and functional change in a part of the city, the waterfront, and on the other, a change in the relationship that joins this parts to the whole The key to success is certainly the presence of water which, in its different expression, at times becomes the object of the work rather than the primary and essential instrument of its accomplishment.

This show dedicated to cities on water is intended to highlight at least two of many aspects: the dynamic and strategic role that waterfront redevelopment has now taken on in processes of urban upgrading and conversion, and the important role played by the administrations of many of these cities in facing the challenges of a competitiveness that is unfolding on an increasingly vast scale.

Looking at many waterfront development projects, it is evident that their outcome has often affected much larger parts of the city than those directly involved in the upgrading work. There is a reverberation, a repercussion effect that has at time genuinely surprised urban analysts and professionals. Urban water is showing a force for innovation and a potential for transformation at the heart of historical, well-established centers, along with an extraordinary drive to characterize new building areas. It has become the preferred theme of many projects, the element around which the aims of the work are defined and articulated.

Even beyond the simple and understandable enthusiasm of entrepreneurs and real estate agents, it must be recognized that there are quire surprising aspects to what has happened on the waterfronts of many cities in the past decades, and is still in full, dynamic development, even if inevitably linked to equally considerable risks. This is why there is a need to increase opportunities to compare, analyze and evaluate projects already carried out or planned, primarily through the provision of accessible information of various cities from all over the world. There is also a need to formulate considered criteria for critical evaluation and for a debate with those directly involved in these operations, because the quality and inhabitability of our cities demand such an effort. This is a task that the large cultural institutions - like the Venice Biennale - cannot ignore.

This section dedicated to the 'city on water' is intended to be not so much an exhibition about cities on water, as an exhibition of cities on water. The idea is to programmatically offer space to administrators that have been responsible for waterfront developments, well aware that evaluation certainly cannot rely only on the statements and view of those directly involved, but neither can it ignore these. Making a selection of interesting cases of cities on water was a difficult task: we had to choose from a huge range of interesting experiences and use only a limited number of examples to show the richness and variety of approaches and solutions adopted and all the risks that such attempts might entail.

The intention was to give an account of a phenomenon now affecting every continent, inviting about twenty cities from all over the world. Some works already accomplished and other projects yet to be stated can be observed and evaluated, and efforts made to recognize and interpret trends in this sector of urban upgrading. The works presented refer to a very broad and articulated range of works, from proposed solutions to very specific problems, though with interesting possibilities for replication in quite different contexts, through to projects referring to large, significant city areas, able to deliver not only their reorganization, but also to produce decisive effects on the image of the city itself on an international scale.

One part of the exhibition is dedicated to Venice in particular, a water city par excellence, with synoptic chart of great efforts being made by the Italian state, the Veneto regional administration and Venice city council to carry out works intended to rescue the physical existence of the city and its surroundings and re-launch its socio-economic development while preserving its essential environmental and cultural characteristics.

Rinio Bruttomesso
Curator of the exhibition

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