TYPOLOGY public space / courtyard
LOCATION Calle S. Lorenzo, Venice, Italy
DATE jul. 2024 / two weeks
STATUS workshop by venice studio, snøhetta
WITH Sofia Luckachuck, John Martin
KEYWORDS rewilding, production, landscape architecture, an ensemble of elements
Sous les Pavés—a slogan born from the 1968 French protests, meaning “beneath the pavement”—serves as both a provocation and a promise. The project embraces this spirit of reclamation, aiming to rewild, regenerate, and return public green space to the urban fabric of Venice.
Over centuries, Venice has evolved into an almost entirely man-made landscape: a mosaic of solidified islands divided by water, with green spaces being rare and largely privatized. This scarcity has led to a monotony of public realms, reduced capacity for natural cooling, limited stormwater absorption, and a troubling decline in biodiversity.
Situated within the Venetian Lagoon—the largest wetland in the Mediterranean Basin—Venice holds a critical ecological position. Rewilding here is not a luxury, but a necessity.
As a pilot intervention, the project transforms the courtyard of a former monastery into a living landscape, offering a model for how such typologies can catalyze ecological restoration and spatial renewal throughout the city.
