The projectis part of a plan to revitalise a former industrial site, “the Conterie” ( smallbeads), on the island of Murano. Alsoknownas the island of glass, Murano forms part of the Venetianlagoon. The Conterie were a two-hectare-wide industrial complexlocated in the heart of Murano. Broughtintobeingbetween the end of the 18th century and the first half of 19th century, the Conterie’szenithdates to the secondhalf of the 19th century, when the complexachievedits maximum industrial output. Decline, on the otherhand, kicked in in the 1970s, and the factorywasfinallyclosed down in 1993. Twoyearslater the complexwasacquired by the Municipality of Venice. Thisdecisionwastakenbecause the former industrial site wasdeemed to offersignificanturbandevelopmentopportunities on account of itsextent, location and the variety of building whichmakesit up. Many of the latter, it must be added, were in a particularlypoor state of conservation.
Havinglostitsoriginalfunction in the late 20th century, the Conterie became a fenced-off area, a kind of ‘enclosure’, the verysize of whichstood in sharpcontrast with the denselybuilturbanspacethat surrounds it. The tensionbetween the twoareasisembodied by the tickwallthatencircles the Conterie, making the former industrial complexutterlyinaccessible and preventinganykind of exchangebetweenit and neighbouringparts of the island. The regenerationprogrammelaunched by the VeniceMunicipalityaims to rectifythis situation. Itsobjectiveis to renovate the Conterie’s industrial buildings by assigningthem new functions from whichboth the island of Murano and the city of Veniceas a wholewill benefit. Central elements of this "re-integration" programme are the building of one hotel, tworesidentialcomplexes, aswellashandicraft and commercial spaces. The inauguration of new public routeswillalsocontribute to turning the area into an open space, wellharmonized with itscontext.
The new residentialcomplexes (A. 36 units, B.18 units) are built inside the disusedfactory, parts of which are to be preserved. The project for the residentialunitsspeaks to the area’sexistingurbanfabric. The unitscomprised in the A building are shaped by the formerfactory’snorth-facingfaçade, which the apartmentsadjoin and whoseoriginalwindowstheyrespect. The juxtaposition of two duplex units and three simplex unitsbringsabout a comb-shapedstructurewhichprovidesamplesunlight from the south, therebygranting the bathroomsbothnatural light and ventilation. Such a structuremeansthat the distancebetween the façade of the A building and that of the B building vary, generating a sequence of urbanspaces. The A building iscompleted. According to the renovationplans, the B building, whoseprojectiscurrentlybeingprepared, will be built inside the existing industrial complex, whichhasbeenduly “emptied”. The new building is made up of twoblocks (each of whichcomprises 8 residentialunits and one commercial area). Itwillalsomake room for the realization of an indoor square, whichwillbecome the centre of the new development.