This project studies water through the Venetian cultural practice of rowing. Individual to Venice, Voga Alla Veneta is the style of rowing in which the rowers are standing up, facing forward, and utilizing an open oarlock known as a forcola. This practice in Venice has been decreasing over time due to the difficulty of owning a wooden boat in Venice today. However, those who still honor this tradition come together for multiple regattas a year and sport their craft in competition. The design transforms the existing building, a former recreational pool for the Nautical school on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, into a public squero, a Venetian term for a boat repair shop. The craft of woodworking is essential to the practice of rowing. Therefore, the project tells the story of wood in Venice from extraction to creation. Visitors can watch the practice of boat making while simultaneously viewing the historical tools and paintings describing the ancient practice that is still used today. Tectonically, the project consists of a wood structure with a metal rod truss, each reacting to the different exhibit spaces while emulating the asymmetry and counterbalance of rowing the Voga Alla Veneta. Angling off the existing building, joined by the central pond signifying a culminating moment of the project in which the exhibit speaks about the future state of the water due to climate change and how rowing today not only continues on tradition but is a tool to protest for climate awareness. It represents an ancient craft that has always demonstrated sustainable practices and was established by taking lessons from the water, not working against it.
