3. AIR / ARIA / AIRE: Breathing Communities from Venice to Catalonia

With the itinerant conversations of the cycle “Cohabiting Within Wetness,” the third chapter of the project “Venice as a model for the future?” developed by TBA21–Academy for its Ocean Space, we direct our eyes and walks toward the localized action of organisms and phenomena often disregarded, yet fundamental for the balance of this ecosystem.

The project “Venice as a model for the future?” was initiated in 2020 and is curated by Barbara Casavecchia and Pietro Consolandi. “Cohabiting Within Wetness” is part of the three-year research cycle The Current III—“Mediterraneans: ‘Thus waves come in pairs’ (after Etel Adnan)," led by Barbara Casavecchia.

In 2021, the Catalan pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale tried to answer the question posed by the Biennale’s title, “How Will We Live Together?," with a study of air quality in Venice. The project AIR / ARIA / AIRE, based on a previous survey carried out in Barcelona, was developed in synergy with the local population and coordinated by the IUAV - Istituto Universitario d'Architettura di Venezia. Its goal is to provide an extremely precise and detailed model, deeply rooted in the territory, of the air quality in the Venetian calli. Aiming for a profound understanding of the relationship between city life and the chemical composition of the air, the research facilitates strategic social and urban planning choices.

Studies carried out in Barcelona up to 2020 have shown that sensors perceive the level of pollution produced by the passage of a single cruise ship as similar to thousands of cars driving down a street. The sensors installed in 2021 near the Giudecca Canal, just before the ban on large ships from the area, would have picked up equally strong anomalies in Venice, only now they are able to collect and monitor different sets of digital data. An analogy that closely links several global crises, relative to climate, health, and models of development.

Jacopo Galli, researcher at IUAV and coordinator of the “Mapping the air in Venice” workshop, guides us through the Santa Marta area, exploring details linked to the city’s daily life and its active citizenship, and discussing why air is a symbol of the interconnection between multiple contemporary issues.

PHOTO: KNECHTEL, Catalonia Pavilion in Venice 2021

6:00PM: Meeting in front of the San Basilio terminal, beyond Ponte Molin. Departure for “Cohabiting Within Wetness. Venice as a model for the future?”

Participation is free, please make a reservation at this link. Limited places available.

Jacopo Galli is a researcher at Iuav University of Venice. He has a PhD in architectural composition from the Iuav University of Venice with a thesis entitled Tropical Toolbox. Fry&Drew and the search for an African modernity (later published by Lettera22). His research interests are varied and include themes such as African cosmopolitan modernity, urbicide and reconstruction, and the processes of development and conservation of historic centres. In 2021 he collaborated with the Catalan pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, curated by Olga Subirós, AIR / ARIA / AIRE, coordinating the research lab "Mapping the air in Venice" developed at IUAV and in dialogue with the resident population of Venice.

“Cohabiting Within Wetness” is part of TBA21–Academy’s program, The Current III: The Mediterraneans: “Thus waves come in pairs” (After Etel Adnan), led by Barbara Casavecchia.

The Current III is a transdisciplinary program of perception, listening, thought and learning that supports projects, collective education, and voices on the shores of the Mediterranean through art, culture, science, and activism.