Visualizing VeniceAnother story, a new case study
The Arsenale’s history is closely bound to that of Venice, and its area is so extensive that—in the late eighteenth century—it actually comprised one-tenth of the city. It was a secret place from the very start (ca. 1104), protected by high embattled walls, a dock, and the tese acque (large buildings fronting on the water) and organized on a scheme that would later be repeated in the Arsenale novo, the Arsenale novissimo, and the Galeazze.
The cantiere was opened in response to a request by Società Arsenale S.p.A, a joint-venture founded in 2003 between the Italian Public Property Agency and the Municipality of Venice to develop and manage projects for the Arsenale’s reuse (Second Chance Project). Among these projects is the redevelopment of the Torre di Porta nuova. The Torre has been designated as a research center devoted to the study of the scientific, historical, and artistic heritage of the Arsenale. It will also serve as a showcase for the Arsenale’s cultural activities and a virtual museum on its history.
Unlike the other cantieri, however, the major phases of the Arsenale’s transformation—the historiography of which has already been confirmed by numerous studies—were identified a priori: phase I (ca. 1104–1200), development of the Arsenale vecchio phase II (ca. 1125–1304), land aggregation and the construction of the early Corderie della Tana phase III (1325), development of the Arsenale novo phase IV (1473–1573), development of the Arsenale novissimo phase V (1535–1540), expansion north of S. Maria della Celestia to create a safe space for storing gunpowder phase VI (1569), development of the Darsena delle Galeazze phase VII (1810), annexation of complex of convent of S. Maria della Celestia phase VIII (1872–1915), construction of the dry docks and aggregation of the island of the Vergini phase IX (1916), development of the area of the Casermette.
The cantiere has been open for one month. The work that has been accomplished to date includes: 1) the collection of historical and iconographic data on macro phenomena from various archives, and 2) the redrawing (2D) and modeling (3D) of the maps for each major phase. Emphasis has been placed on the area around the Torre della Campanella because it is in middle of the Arsenale, both in terms of its geographical location and in terms of history. It is the pivot around which all of the Arsenale’s major transformations have taken place: a place outside the perimeter, a tower meant to defend the perimeter, a logistics center whose bell marked time for the Arsenalotti at work. The phases investigated to date underscore the changes in this area through 1937, when the tower’s lost forms were restored and the last warehouses were demolished to make room for the new Piazzale dell’Impero.
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