Sauerbruch Hutton

Venice in Mestre

 

 

 

M9 Museum District

Venice-Mestre (2018)

The Brief

The studio will engage three different sites all somehow connected to the Museum of the XX Century (M9) designed by Sauerbruch Hutton. Each site offers a different scale of intervention and engagement with the public realm and, therefore, the studio will consider architecture, urban planning and landscape design: the public realm at large. The three sites (site 1: Rethinking the Block, site 2: Bringing the Flair of Venice to Mestre, site 3: Historic Round Trip) are located in the heart of Mestre alongside the M9 Museum. Students will be expected to research the history and current state of development of the sites they choose to work on.

 

Project Programme Urban Regeneration (architecture, urban planning and landscape design)
Studio Times 08:30 – 12.00 (GMT +2) Venice | 16:30 – 20.00 Melbourne | 14.30 – 18.00 China
5th – 16th July (exc. weekends)
Required Skills No specific skill requirements
Required Software No specific software requirements
Resources Recommended Reading: Relational Theories of Urban Form, an Anthology, edited by Daniel Kiss and Simon Kretz, inc. specific chapters: Introduction, Collective Form by Fumihiko Maki; Spatial Processes by Alison & Peter Smithson; The Art of Environment by Gordon Cullen; The Science of Walking by Lucius Burckhardt; Urbanity of Things by Manuel de Sola-Morales
Project Sites

1. The south side of the M9 Museum (framed by Via Giovanni Pascoli, Via Carducci and Piazzale Donatori di Sangue), Venice Mestre

2. The route from the Salso Canal to Piazza Barche, Venice Mestre

3. The route encircling the historic city centre, following the bank of the River Marzenego and beginning at the M9 Museum (approx. 2.8km), Venice Mestre

 

Rethinking the Block

Bringing the flair of Venice to Mestre

Historic Round Trip

Studio Directors

Juan Lucas Young

© Urban Zintel

Bettina Magistretti

© Urban Zintel

Juan Lucas Young graduated from the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo in 1989, and joined Sauerbruch Hutton in 1990. Since 1999, Young has been a partner and managing director. He is responsible for the overall management of the office and oversight of all projects. Furthermore, Juan Lucas Young lectures at universities and regularly attends congresses and conferences worldwide. He is member of the board of Fairtrag e.V.

Bettina Magistretti studied in Berlin and as a scholarship holder both at the IIT Chicago and the ETSAB Barcelona. In 1997 she graduated from the Technical University of Berlin. After her studies she worked for Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genoa and Foster & Partners in Berlin. Bettina joined Sauerbruch Hutton in 2007. As project manager she is responsible for the planning and implementation of national and international competitions and projects. She focuses largely on the ventures of Sauerbruch Hutton in Italy. Her special expertise lies in dealing with heritage and listed buildings, as well as the harmonious integration of new buildings into a historical context. Bettina became a partner in 2020.

Studio Guests

Martin Rein-Cano
Founder / Managing Partner
Topotek 1, Berlin

Andrew Kiel
Architect and Partner
Sauerbruch Hutton, Berlin

© Urban Zintel

Louisa Hutton
Partner and Director
Sauerbruch Hutton, Berlin

© Urban Zintel

Venice Project

M9 Museum District

Venice-Mestre (2018)

M9 is a museum of the cultural inheritance of the 20th century, located in a small museum quarter in Mestre, the mainland gateway to Venice. An agent of urban renewal, this educational institution and events venue provides a point of local identification and helps to redress the disparity of cultural wealth between Mestre and the tourist magnet across the lagoon.

The M9 scheme consists of one larger and one smaller new building – for the museum and its offices, respectively – plus a former convent and an office building. Together they frame a new public square and open up a diagonal pedestrian link from Piazza Erminia Ferretto to the important thoroughfare of Via Cappuccina. This passes through the courtyard of the 16th-century Convento delle Grazie, which was renovated and converted for uses that complement those of the small quarter. The route through the block is enlivened at street level by various cafés, restaurants and shops.

The museum building likewise offers public facilities on the ground floor, including a media library, an auditorium, a museum shop and a café. A long, dramatic staircase leads up to the galleries and event spaces. The permanent exhibition occupies two ‘black box’ floors and takes a narrative approach to the history of modern Italy, while temporary exhibitions are housed in a naturally lit ‘white box’ on the top floor.

M9 is an active museum with no thresholds to inhibit entry; it addresses residents and tourists, young and old alike. In its provision of a social location, the development as a whole sustains the lifeblood of the European city.

Photography by Jan Bitter

Sauerbruch Hutton

Sauerbruch Hutton is an international agency for architecture, urban planning and design. It was founded in London in 1989 and is now based in Berlin, Germany. The practice is led by Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton and Juan Lucas Young.

Sauerbruch Hutton realises sustainable solutions for architectural projects, urban master plans, interiors, furniture and exhibitions. While the practice is noted for its synthesis of colour in the design process and for the use of fluid curvilinear forms, it also has been one of the most important and experienced representatives of sustainable building in Europe for around 30 years. Their planning approach combines functionality and ecological performance with sensuality and intuition. Their projects, developed for both private and public clients throughout Europe, stand for the concept of a responsible modernity, which seeks to communicate with its context – both urban and ecological.

 The office’s best-known buildings include the GSW Headquarters in Berlin, the Federal Environment Agency in Dessau and the Brandhorst Museum in Munich. More recently, the Experimenta Science Centre in Heilbronn and the Museum District M9 in Venice Mestre were opened.

Outside of Germany the firm has worked on projects in the UK, Finland, France, Italy, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Experimenta Building
Heilbronn

© Jan Bitter

Brandhorst Museum
Munich

© Andreas Lechtape

City Dress
Venice Biennale

© Sauerbruch Hutton

GSW Headquarters
Berlin

© Annette Kisling

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