Studio Details

Location
Venice, Italy

Date
3-14th July, 2023
(8/9th weekend free unless notified otherwise)

Fee
2500 Euro

Studio Directors in Venice
Melinda Matuz (senior architect/associate, UNStudio), Alexander Kalachev (senior architect/associate, UNStudio), Caterina Micucci (interior architect/associate, UNStudio)

Studio Project
Reuse and Community

Time Commitment
3.5hrs / day classes (+ fild trips, lectures and site visits)
*students should expect to spend additional time outside class to develop their projects

Required Skills
Digital 3D Modelling

Required Software
Adobe Suite, Rhino (Enscape optional)

Resources
Laptop computer

Field Trips and Site Visits
The cost of all studio activities are covered by the Venice Studio program (inc. any transport), therefore there is no additional cost to students.
The program also provides each student a week-long public transport ticket and an entry ticket to the Architecture Biennale (Giardini and Arsenale).

note: additional details inc, site locations, field trips and partners announced soon

Studio Project

Established on an unimaginable site, historically Venice has unceasingly had to invent its own actions. Its nature originates from the exceptions it is made of. The city was built by episodes, even though it was always able to make different unobstructed interpretations of its own.
Nevertheless, Venice’s architecture today offers much less alternatives on how to be visited and lived than it used to. The spatial and historical value of the city became so overwhelmingly meaningful that it imposes the observer to slide into fleeting contemplation instead of understanding.
The lagoon city tends to expose the “immutable” and to hide the “changes” 1. The voids, left in Venice by the “architecture’s closed churches”, articulated differently, represents an interesting, new way on how to deal with cultural and urban heritage and how to think about the city. Considering the scale of the city, Venice counts quite large number of closed churches. These buildings appear like hidden urban voids within the city. Buildings out of use, with no access by the community and city surrounding them.

Taking inspiration from the research developed by Sara Marini in “Guida alle Chiese Chiuse di Venezia” about the closed churches of Venice UNStudio proposes to investigate the opportunities to reuse one of these churches as a community space and think about reinventing the meaning of the church, as a place of ritual rather as a place of community. The historical value of the building is meant to be kept, it remains an urban anchor, part of the bigger morphological system of the city. The students are invited to reimagine and design a new use for the church, capable of building and nurturing communities.

The studio will be divided into two parts. The first part will focus on the perceptions of the city, the church, and its environment. Perceptions will be captured via different mediums – photo, writing, video, AI and drawing. The collected information will be the source of inspiration for the design of the space in the second part of the studio.
The goal of the first part exercise will be to get acquainted with Venice, to understand the different archetypes its built from and the architectural idea the city embodies. This will be an experiential way to learn about reality and imagination, perception and reality, heritage and contemporary and finally space and time.
In the second part, students will work on a design proposal for the church. The original function of the space will be changed inspired by the work done in the first part of the studio. The new use will serve a community function which opens the door of the original building to people and our minds towards the opportunities of reinterpreting our space of ritual and reality.

UNStudio

UNStudio, founded in 1988 by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos, is an international architectural design network with six full-service international offices in Amsterdam, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Dubai and Melbourne. UNStudio specialises in architecture, interior architecture, product design, urban development and infrastructural projects.

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Internships

Students accepted into the UNStudio class at Venice Studio may be considered for available internship or job opportunities at UNStudio. Selection of candidates is at the sole discretion of the studio director and UNStudio. Places are not guaranteed.

VS23 Program Information

For Deatiled Program Information click HERE

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