Venice Lessons

Venice, one of the world's most famous places, has a dual nature of real city and myth. It is suspended in the struggle between sea and soil and unable to survive without cyclical preservation and continual compromise. The myth, which is largely shaped by nostalgia and ideals of the past, superimposes today's real city with its infrastructural challenges and can hardly be reconciled with a concrete future. Venice Lessons: examines this conflict. Based on a recent research program at EPFL's Laboratory Basel (laba), it demonstrates how the city must constantly redesign its historic image to retain its position as one of Europe's prime tourist attractions while the necessary permanent renovation undermines its livelihood. The findings are visualised in striking images, graphics and maps. The book also features proposals for architectural interventions by laba's students. Interlaced is a reprint of Miroslav Sasek's famous picture book This is Venice which reflects the common Venice nostalgia while the Venice Lessons research context enables a fresh reading of this children's classic. AUTHORS: Harry Gugger is an architect and a Professor at Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne's (EPFL) School of Architecture since 2005. He is head of EPFL's Basel-based satellite studio Laboratory Basel (laba). Barbara Costa is laba's Head of Research. She graduated in architecture from University of Porto's Faculty of Architecture and has also done a Master's degree in drawing at University of Lisbon's Faculty of Fine Arts. Juliette Fong is a project assistant at laba. Salome Gutscher studied architecture at EPFL and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and currently works as a teaching assistant at laba. Stefan Horner graduated in architecture from ETH Zurich and is currently laba's Head of Teaching. Charlotte Truwant graduated in architecture from EPFL and currently works as a research assistant at laba. 370 colour, 50 b/w illustrations