1. LACUNA/AE
Identity and Modern Architecture in Venice
May 28 – August 28, 2016
Torre Massimiliana, Sant’Erasmo Island
From May 28th to August 28th 2016 the Istituzione Parco della Laguna hosts the photography exhibition
LACUNA/AE. Identity and Modern Architecture in Venice at the Torre Massimiliana, a former military
fortress recently restored, located on theisland of Sant’Erasmo, located tothe north ofVenice. Theexhibition
is ideated by Eleonora Milner and is curated by Elena Caslini and Eleonora Milner, in collaboration with the
Archivio della Comunicazione del Comune di Venezia and with the support of the Associazione Culturale
Lavanderia Young.
Over 100 photographs by seventeen Italian photographers document former industrial areas of Venice
redeveloped into residential complexes in the second half of the 20th
Century and nearby areas, which were
built at the same time.
The exhibition talks about the architecture and the identity of these areas of Venice, which still remain out
of the typical tourists routes and are almost unknown to most people. Indeed, only few know that, between
the 19th
and the 20th
centuries, Venice hosted big industrial complexes, which were definitely closed during
the 1950s, after the construction and the economic success of Porto Marghera and the Petrolchimico.
About thirty years later, due to the initiative of public authorities and local committees, some of the most
famous Italian architects were called to redevelop the abandoned industrial sites into public housing.
Furthermore, new residential areas were built to satisfy the growing need for new functional housing.
“We aim at visually telling a missing partofVenice’s history and showing how photography can be an efficient
tool to get to know reality and understand its places, spaces and people” say the curators. How today’s
inhabitants, about thirty years later, live these examples of public residential architecture? Are these areas
integrated into the urban pattern of the city or do they inevitably stay out of it? These are some of the
questions at the core of the exhibition, which does not only document architectural changes, but also
wonders how they affected the definition of places’ and people’ s identity.
Although each photography campaign maintains its own distinctive style, all the authors approach
photography as a cultural practice to examine the territory, as it helps to perceive, see, and (re)live the
contemporary space and to link different signs scattered in the landscape.
The photographic medium is conceived as a tool to know reality. However, it does not want to give definitive
answers, but offers causes for reflection in order to open an almost forgotten chapter of Venetian history.

2. THE EXHIBITION PATH
The 11 room exhibition path is conceived as a journey into Venice former industrial areas and the residential
areas built ex novo right out the borders of the city centre. On the first floor, after the introductory room,
rooms 2 and 3 are dedicated to the Giudecca island, one of the most important industrial areas in Venice at
the end of the XIX century. On this island are located the Ex area Trevisan, a wood factory converted into an
IACP residential complex by architect Gino Valle, and the Ex area Junghans, a former watch factory which
today hosts the Veneta Theatre Academy, a college residence, a cafè and some houses. Rooms 4 and 5 are
dedicated to two new areas, respectively Sacca Fisola, an artificial island built to the west of the Giudecca to
satisfy the need of cheap housing in Venice, and the Murano Area Angeli, a former fallow area where, during
the 1970s, a series of public housing were built, among which those designed by architect Carlo Righetti are
the most famous.
The exhibition path continues on the second floor with a series of photographs documenting the Mazzorbo
Island (room 6), a rural area to the north of Venice, which saw the construction of a new residential IACP
area designed by architect Giancarlo deCarlo. The Ex area S.A.F.F.A in Cannaregio is the protagonist of room
7: nothing remains of the ancient match factory, if not its smokestack, which sticks out the houses built by
architect Vittorio Gregotti in the 1980s. The path continues in room 8 with Sacca san Girolamo, best known
as Baia del Re, a former rough area located to the north-west of Cannaregio, which was redeveloped during
the 1980s through the construction of a new residential neighbourhood designed by architect Franco
Bortoluzzi. Room 9 is then dedicated to the Villaggio Laguna, a new district built in Campalto, in the so-called
gronda lagunare.
The exhibition ends with two rooms dedicated to two examples of unique types ofarchitecture. The Camping
Fusina (room 10), located next to the Porto Marghera Industrial pole, was renovated by famous Venetian
architect Carlo Scarpa during the 1950s. It is a peculiar example of a celebrated architect who worked on an
architecture typology, that of the camping, traditionally considered less noble than others due to its
ephemeral structures. The photographs of the Lido Liberty (room 11) show how, simultaneously with the
birth of the great industrial sites of the end of the 19th century, new forms of modern architecture were
experimented on the Lido, characterized by the elegant refinement typical of the fin de siècle art nouveau.
Along the exhibition path, in room 5, you can find a section that talks about former industrial Venice
throughout a series of illustrations, specifically designed for the exhibition. Seven Italian illustrators have
been designated to interpret and illustrate the aforementioned areas, in order to show, together with the
photographs, a different side of Venice and to demonstrate how it is possible to go beyond the consolidated
and stereotyped idea of a post card-Venice.

3. You can download the exhibition press kit and the press images at the following link: http://bit.ly/lacunae
LACUNA/AE. Identity and Modern Architecture in Venezia
Torre Massimiliana
Via de le Motte 104, Isola di Sant’Erasmo, Venice
May 28 – August 28, 2016
www.lacunaeproject.com
OPENING HOURS
Wed – Thu – Fri: 3pm – 7 pm
Sat – Sun: 11 am – 7 pm
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LACUNAE-989976934422311/?ref=ts&fref=ts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lacunaeproject/
Official hashtag: #lacunae
PRESS OFFICE
Elena Caslini
lacunavenezia@gmail.com