Anonymous asked: hi Michael Cote,My names is Benjamin Hale. I am a post grad student of the UniversityManchester currently undertaking my masters in architecture. I am looking at Venice as a possible location for a project as I find it to be a fascinating city. Im conducting an urban analysis in order to better understand the typologies found in the city and to ascertain the reasons why it has evolved in the way that it has. Could you please point me in the direction of some decent visual and reading material?:)

Hey Ben,

Thanks for the note. How on earth did you know I studied/toured Venice??

Architectural histories of Venice are a dime a dozen. I’d try to get into the heads of actual Venetians. Also, there is a firm that is hired exclusively by the city to maintain the canals and piazzas. They mostly do stone-work-restoration and are experts at it. Sorry, but the name slips my mind, but you can google around. What’s interesting about their firm is that they document the processes very precisely and publish it on line with movie clips and very visual reports.

Some quick recommendations:

Across the Bridge of Sighs.

Italia Nostra’s study on Venice is good, but you’ll need translation.

Search the Venice very excellent but cumbersome university library system.

The Venice Ministry of Culture (can’t find the link, might be Rome MoC or Italy MoC).

SACAIM, for restoration (not the best site, but dig through it)

And of course UNESCO’s Venice Office has ultra-high quality reports.

Cheers and keep in touch!

Michael

This is a boat lift.

The Falkirk Wheel

Designed by Scottish architecture firm, RMJM, the Falkirk Wheel is boat lift in central Scotland that connects two canals. Previously 11 locks were required to connect the canals which differ in height by 24 meters. The inner rings rotate at the same speed as the larger axis in order to keep the boat and water from tipping over. The Wheel can make a full rotation in eight minutes.

(via architizer)

Amsterdam is one crazy town. I’m currently in the Netherlands visiting several climate adaptation projects (itinerary, here), most of which were paid for and built by the government. I’m blown away by how advanced this country’s research and technology is. I’ll have more on those projects, soon.

So, I convinced my colleagues to take a canal tour (e.g., get super-tweaked on high-octane caffeine and then drink beers for the rest of the day). Amsterdam is a true floating city! And, as you can see, the place is utter chaos - an emulsion of confused identity. There’s so much going on at every turn, and it’s quite difficult to comprehend what I was seeing.

Cover up. Japan. Spring.

Rotterdam last night. The city has probably the best climate adaptation plans of any city in the world.

Giethoorn is a charming village in the Netherlands with canals for roads and foot paths for side walks.

Click here for more pics and a little video.

Just back from Chicago. Nice, tall town.

I want to go to there.

allthingseurope:

Annecy, France  (by yvon Merlier )

Kinderdijk

Must be seen large!

Kinderdijk is a world heritage site in the Netherlands. 18 out of the 19 windmills built to drain the polder are still standing.

Source: Erik Eti Smit

How does Venice work? A must see video showing how Venice was built, is maintained, and it’s infamous interactions with water. High quality production, and very educational. Electric, gas, and fiber optics are buried beneath the sidewalks. The place is always under restoration. It even describes in detail how the sewers work and where the gunk goes (if you’ve been to Venice, you probably know it’s nasty at low-tide, this shows why).

Still, the place is sinking, and I’ve raised the question if it should be abandoned or saved. It’s primarily a tourist attraction, having little cultural significance beyond architecture. It will cost billions to save Venice from sea level rise. It’s difficult for me to advocate saving a place where barely anyone lives.

The video was produced by a company called Insula. Insula was created by the City of Venice for the purpose of restoration and planning:

Insula is responsible for the process of implementing public works and infrastructure: it plans, designs, tenders and coordinates the execution of works and services for the urban and building maintenance vital to the preservation of the city.

• ordinary and extraordinary maintenance
• restoration, regeneration, renovation, new construction
• management of real-estate assets
• canal maintenance
• preservation of the building heritage along the canals
• restoration of the sewer system
• upgrade and reorganization of the underground utilities systems
• execution of the works and actions involved in the physical and environmental preservation of Venice and its lagoon as required by law 171/1973, art. 12 of Dpr 791/73.
• Source: Brochure

Insula’s website is beautiful and well designed. There are sections for photos, restoration, videos, and education. There are also brochures explaining what Insula does, including the processes and materials it uses for Venice, here.

Thanks to the wonderful CondeNastTraveler Tumblr!

What we’re watching right now—thanks, @kressie42, for the link.

(via condenasttraveler)

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