09 Nov

Venice is Venice and not anywhere else because of the way its buildings meet the ground. Hundreds of thousands of wooden piles support Venice in the lagoon, creating a relationship between the city and the water that makes Venice what it is. The water forces Venetians and visitors to be aware of their surroundings, making them cautious of where they step and how they move through the city. The buildings accommodate the water, allowing people to enter them with boats, constantly adjusting to the shifts of the tide. Some buildings, and even Venice itself, seem to float in the water but this is deceptive. Venice is actually ‘grounded’ to a sandy substrate below the water’s surface by those hundreds of thousands of wooden piles. This underwater forest allows Venice to maintain its relationship with the water that makes it what it is.