The Brief

There are many reasons why Venice is failing as a living city. One reason is that it is a finite reality: the city does not and cannot grow, renovate, re-invent and innovate itself as other cities do. It benefits from and falls victim to its own image.

In the 16th and 17th centuries Venice and its administrators had more courage and vision than in the 20th and 21st centuries. In the 16th century major hydraulic works and urban development took place to shape Venice as it is now. One of the greatest visions that never materialised was the 1557 plan by Cristoforo Sabbadino, an engineer for the Magistratura alle Acque (for centuries the most important and powerful Government body in Venice). Sabbadino envisioned the Calatrava bridge 450 years before it was built, but most importantly he envisioned a continuous public space surface all around the city: a perimeter “fondamenta”.

This brilliant and simple idea, if implemented today, could provide Venice with additional and desperately needed quality public space on which to insert services, green, sports, circulation, transportation and amenities for residents. There could be transportation hubs to interchange between vaporetto, foot, and even bicycle or other wheel-based electrical devices that would find dedicated lanes along the new loop.

In addition, the “new fondamenta” could become a hub for plugging floating devices such as temporary or permanent buildings, pavilions and spaces. Venice makes practically no use of floating architecture, with the exception of vaporetto stops, which is surprising considering these interventions would not alter the urban fabric nor the overall image of the city.

Project Precinct

Venice Project

Seoullo 7017 Skygarden

South Korea (2017)

Seoullo 7017 Skygarden is a 983-metre botanical floating walkway, which transformed a former city highway. It is a linear park with over 200 local species of trees, shrubs and flowers lined as a walkable plant library for residents and visitors to the city. The linear park was designed as a collection of small gardens, each one with its very own composition, perfume, colour and identity. The landscape will change according to the seasons: the bright colours of leaves in autumn of the Aceraceae family (maples), the blossom of cherry trees and rhododendrons in spring, the evergreen conifers trees in winter and shrubs and trees bearing fruit in summer.

Seoullo, the Korean name for Skygarden translates to ‘towards Seoul’ and ‘Seoul Street’, while 7017 marks the overpass’ construction year of 1970, and its new function as a public walkway in 2017. The pedestrianised viaduct next to Seoul’s main station is the next step towards making the city and especially the central station district, greener, friendlier and more attractive, whilst connecting all patches of green in the wider area. New bridges and stairs connect the viaduct with hotels, shops and gardens.

Since the project was won by MVRDV in May 2015, the main challenge of the Skygarden was always to transform the existing overpass into a public garden, overlaying a matrix of Korean flora onto the 16m elevated steel and concrete structure. From the start, MVRDV engaged with the need to change the forgotten and existing infrastructure into a green symbol that has become a catalyst for a livelier and greener quarter for Seoul.

Seoullo 7017 Skygarden embodies many themes at once: it is a large urban project, which also encapsulates an archipelago of smaller interventions; it is an example of sustainable regeneration of public space; it is not only a refurbishment, but a rethinking of infrastructure providing nature, services and connections.

© Ossip

MVRDV

MVRDV was founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries. Based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the company has a global scope, providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues in all regions of the world. It is a highly collaborative environment where architects, clients, stakeholders, and experts from a wide range of fields, come together during the creative process. The results are exemplary, outspoken projects that enable cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future.

The products of MVRDV’s unique approach to design vary, ranging from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Completed projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; the Unterföhring office campus near Munich; the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam; the Ypenburg housing and urban plan in The Hague; the Didden Village rooftop housing extension in Rotterdam; the music centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven; the Gyre boutique shopping center in Tokyo; a public library in Spijkenisse; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.

The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published worldwide and has received numerous international awards. Two hundred and fifty architects, designers and urbanists develop projects in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative design process that involves rigorous technical and creative investigation.

Villa VPRO
Hilversum, Netherlands

© MVRDV