Proposed Ecological Research & Macro Algae Monitoring Facility, Venice:

The Venice Lagoon is the most important survivor of a system of estuarine lagoons that in Roman times extended from Ravenna north to Trieste. Later, it provided naturally protected conditions for the growth of the Venetian Republic and its maritime empire. In a context where the present aspect of the Lagoon is the result of human intervention, the need to provide Venice and other built-up areas in the lagoon with an effective sea defense system, has driven some experimental projects as MOSE Project or Paisajes Emergentes’ project “The Hours“.

Within all this references, the project Ecological Research & Macro Algae Monitoring Facility [North Arsenale, Venice] by Christopher Christophi reacts to recent pressures facing the Venetian Lagoon, specifically focusing on the increasing threat of invasive algae growth and the rising issues regarding the welfare of the lagoon, due to the nearing completion of the Lagoons MOSE flood gates.

Situated in the derelict naval warehouses at the North of Arsenale which face out onto the Lagoon, the project proposes a group of laboratories and structures that will monitor, analyse and understand algae growth and the welfare of the lagoon, whilst collecting and harvesting the existing crop for Bio-fuel to give back to the city.