Positioned within the Venetian lagoon, the island of Poveglia bears witness to a multifaceted past, but its full potential has remained largely untapped throughout history and even more so in recent years, due to the abandonment of even its architecturally significant structures. The thesis explores the possibility of its revitalization and transformation into a dynamic, vibrant, and self-sufficient place of study, and life. The research aims to examine the fundamental characteristics that define a thriving habitat and community, that is, embedded in a mechanism of social, productive, economic, cultural, and civil development. The narrative begins with a section dedicated to “Poveglia”, to its history and its context: an investigation into the island’s past, placing it in the lagoon, and defining the crucial moments that shaped its architectural, natural and human course, and underlining the island’s belonging to a broader landscape and territorial system: the archipelago. The archipelago is not just a geographical concept, but also an architectural one (R. Koolhaas, O. M. Ungers, cit. libro): indeed, in the Venetian archipelago, primarily in the city of Venice and subsequently in the strip of land that bounds it to the south (The Lido), which is also the closest to Poveglia and of the emerged lands, one can trace certain dynamics and ways of constructing the landscape, urbanity, and architecture, which outline a process capable of regenerating and recovering abandoned spaces, transforming them into inhabited places. The second part of the research dedicated to “The Revival” (social, productive, economic, cultural, and civil) explains and applies this process through the principles outlined by Jane Jacobs in her work “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” to transform an abandoned place in a vibrant and dynamic environment, where people want to live, work and create, examining the places from the perspective of their end users, in this case students, visitors and citizens, involved in urban and public events, which could reconstruct the island’s identity. The third and final part, “Architecture”, integrates the narrative of the island with references to urban regeneration and transformation, projecting itself towards places of study and meeting that are sustainable ecosystems, to create a forward-looking strategy for a vibrant economy, dynamic and self-sufficient, capable of establishing the site of the future university campus on the island. The proposal for the rebirth of Poveglia not only seeks to outline a path of recovery and valorization for this particular island but to spark a broader debate on the revitalization of similar “dormant” places, with possible implications for the vitality and prosperity of the city of Venice itself, which, although overwhelmed by mass tourism, latently continues to contain within its fabric, an extraordinary urban and civil identity and vitality.
Posizionata all’interno della laguna veneziana, l’isola di Poveglia testimonia un passato multiforme, ma il suo pieno potenziale è rimasto in gran parte inutilizzato nella storia e ancor di più negli ultimi anni, a causa dell’abbandono in cui versano anche strutture di grande pregio architettonico. La tesi esplora la possibilità della sua rivitalizzazione e trasformazione in un luogo di studio, vita dinamico, vibrante e autosufficiente. L’obiettivo della ricerca è di esaminare i caratteri fondamentali che definiscono un habitat e una comunità fiorente, cioè inserita in un meccanismo di sviluppo sociale, produttivo, economico, culturale e civile. Il racconto inizia con una parte dedicata a “Poveglia”, alla sua storia e al suo contesto: un’indagine sul passato dell’isola, che la colloca nella laguna, definendo i momenti cruciali che ne hanno modellato il corso, architettonico, naturale e umano e sottolinea l’appartenenza dell’isola a un sistema paesaggistico e territoriale più ampio: l’arcipelago. L’arcipelago non è solo un concetto geografico, ma anche architettonico (R. Koolhaas, O. M. Ungers, cit. libro): si possono infatti rintracciare nell’arcipelago veneziano, in primis nella città di Venezia e successivamente nella lingua di terra che la delimita a sud (Il Lido), che è anche la più ravvicinata a Poveglia delle terre emerse, alcune dinamiche e modalità di costruzione del paesaggio, dell’urbanità e dell’architettura, che delineano un processo, capace di rigenerare e recuperare gli spazi abbandonati, per farli diventare luoghi abitati. La seconda parte della ricerca dedicata a “Il risveglio” (sociale, produttivo, economico, culturale e civile) esplicita e applica tale processo attraverso i principi delineati da Jane Jacobs nella sua opera “La Morte e la Vita delle Grandi Città Americane” per trasformare un luogo abbandonato in un ambiente vibrante e dinamico, in cui le persone vogliono vivere, lavorare e creare, studiando i luoghi dall’ottica degli utenti finali degli stessi, in questo caso gli studenti, i visitatori e i cittadini, coinvolti negli eventi urbani e pubblici, che potrebbero ricostruire un’identità dell’isola. La terza e ultima parte, “L’architettura”, integra la narrazione dell’isola con riferimenti alla rigenerazione e trasformazione urbana, proiettandosi verso luoghi di studio e incontro che siano ecosistemi sostenibili, al fine di creare una strategia lungimirante per un’economia vibrante, dinamica e autosufficiente, capace di costituire nell’isola la sede del futuro campus universitario. La proposta per la rinascita di Poveglia non cerca solo di tracciare un percorso di recupero e valorizzazione per questa particolare isola, ma di innescare un dibattito più ampio sulla rivitalizzazione di simili luoghi “dormienti”, con possibili implicazioni per la vitalità e la prosperità della città stessa di Venezia, che, seppure sopraffatta dal turismo di massa, in modo latente continua a contenere nel suo tessuto, un’identità e vitalità urbana e civile straordinaria.
The Revival: Poveglia's Identity as Self-Sustaining University Campus
Ninkovic, Konstantin
2022/2023
Abstract
Positioned within the Venetian lagoon, the island of Poveglia bears witness to a multifaceted past, but its full potential has remained largely untapped throughout history and even more so in recent years, due to the abandonment of even its architecturally significant structures. The thesis explores the possibility of its revitalization and transformation into a dynamic, vibrant, and self-sufficient place of study, and life. The research aims to examine the fundamental characteristics that define a thriving habitat and community, that is, embedded in a mechanism of social, productive, economic, cultural, and civil development. The narrative begins with a section dedicated to “Poveglia”, to its history and its context: an investigation into the island’s past, placing it in the lagoon, and defining the crucial moments that shaped its architectural, natural and human course, and underlining the island’s belonging to a broader landscape and territorial system: the archipelago. The archipelago is not just a geographical concept, but also an architectural one (R. Koolhaas, O. M. Ungers, cit. libro): indeed, in the Venetian archipelago, primarily in the city of Venice and subsequently in the strip of land that bounds it to the south (The Lido), which is also the closest to Poveglia and of the emerged lands, one can trace certain dynamics and ways of constructing the landscape, urbanity, and architecture, which outline a process capable of regenerating and recovering abandoned spaces, transforming them into inhabited places. The second part of the research dedicated to “The Revival” (social, productive, economic, cultural, and civil) explains and applies this process through the principles outlined by Jane Jacobs in her work “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” to transform an abandoned place in a vibrant and dynamic environment, where people want to live, work and create, examining the places from the perspective of their end users, in this case students, visitors and citizens, involved in urban and public events, which could reconstruct the island’s identity. The third and final part, “Architecture”, integrates the narrative of the island with references to urban regeneration and transformation, projecting itself towards places of study and meeting that are sustainable ecosystems, to create a forward-looking strategy for a vibrant economy, dynamic and self-sufficient, capable of establishing the site of the future university campus on the island. The proposal for the rebirth of Poveglia not only seeks to outline a path of recovery and valorization for this particular island but to spark a broader debate on the revitalization of similar “dormant” places, with possible implications for the vitality and prosperity of the city of Venice itself, which, although overwhelmed by mass tourism, latently continues to contain within its fabric, an extraordinary urban and civil identity and vitality.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2023_12_Ninkovic_01_ Master Thesis Book spreads.pdf
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Descrizione: Master Thesis book spreads
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79.47 MB
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Adobe PDF
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79.47 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
2023_12_Ninkovic_02_ Master Thesis Boards_.pdf
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Descrizione: Master Thesis boards
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63.01 MB
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Adobe PDF
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63.01 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/214697