The Italian Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia, promoted by the Ministry of Culture's Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity, will be entitled ‘Terrae Aquae. L’Italia e l’Intelligenza del Mare’ (Terrae Aquae. Italy and the Intelligence of the Sea)’ and curated by Guendalina Salimei. It will include a video presentation of the Architecture thesis ‘From Waterscape to Nautopia: global warming scenarios and stories of radical architecture, spaces and habitats’, written by two UniTS graduates. 

Giulia Piacente and Giulia Toscano's thesis explores an imaginative future in which cities may exist on water, and was supervised by Thomas Bisiani, professor of Architectural and Urban Composition at UniTS.  It will be exhibited in the area of the pavilion dedicated to products of academic studies until 23rd November.

Guendalina Salimei, curator of the Italian Pavilion, described it as a ‘contribution from the field of education, demonstrating how academic research can provide us with insights which help us engage with challenges in both the present and future’.

The work was chosen for the quality of its research, the originality of its approach and its relevance to the themes addressed by the exhibition project ‘Terræ Aquæ. Italy and the Intelligence of the Sea.’ 

Starting with a discussion on global warming and the resultant rising sea levels, the students conceived Nautopia, a floating village for 2000 people, able to survive submersion in bad weather and surrounded by an artificial ring of land to mitigate the impact of the waves. In the underwater plane, a special grid structure would allow people to travel across, be adjustable to limit or expand spaces, and be equipped with a physical system linking the market, trade building and cultural centre. The upper plane would be left free to allow for ease of navigation.

The passage from one plane to another would be made possible thanks to lifting platforms that allow people to travel up and down and would provide a supply of energy, water and operational drainage systems.

Nautopia would be self-sufficient with food, water, energy and waste disposal in order to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.