F1204 Architectural and Urban Heritage. Transforming Venice after the Collapse of the Republic (F1204)

Monday 15.15-16.45
Wednesday 15.15-16.45

Introduction to the topics
1797: with the collapse of the Republic, Venice fell down on a condition of crisis and frustration. Hitherto, the town had been not only a great merchants hub and a capital city, but also a political utopia and a literary model. In such a context, architecture played a great role in shaping an idea of Venice associated to a suite of stereotypes.
1866: after the incorporation with the Italian Kingdom, the Venetian ruling class reacted against the condition of crisis. In particular after the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), railways links, harbour facilities, new bridges and new thoroughfares were created in order to insert the city into the commercial and maritime networks.
During the XIX.th century, however, a second idea of Venice was slowly emerging due to the new sensitiveness generated by Romanticism. Lord Byron, John Ruskin and other foreign travellers had strongly contributed to enhance a new suite of myths associated to the notion of despair and death. Architecture and arts followed this new trend, making some suitable features come up.
At the turn of the century, with the dawn of international tourism, the wave of transformation was at its maximum. Even if radical, changes did not affect the idea of Venice as firmly associated to Romantic myths, but they brought into evidence the conflict with a real process of transformation, renewal and enlargement.
During the XX.th century, facing the increasingly higher number of visitors, such a romantic stereotype of Venice seems to match the demand for touristic consumption.

Objectives
Together with a series of detailed description, this course aims at providing a critical introduction to the architectural and urban features of Venice, specifically considering how architecture has contributed to create a particular idea of the city. Starting from a suite of highlights and from a number of case studies, we want students to get acquainted with the guidelines concerning cultural, historic and artistic heritage related to modern and contemporary times from XVI.th to XX.th century.
Through the course the students will:
- become familiar with the main pieces of architecture, in particular with those which are a constituent part of the urban context;
- be provided with an overview of issues and personalities that have marked the history of architecture in modern and contemporary times: in particular, evidence will be given the urban dimension;
- be provided with the tools of critical reading in order to trace the lineaments of a story that comes from the fifteenth century to the twentieth century.

Organisation and supervision
The course is organized around three modules. Each module has a special focus on some case studies. In order to enhance a direct knowledge of the city and its architectural masterpieces, we shall organize some field trips related to the main case studies.