Orienting the Surface:
The proposal is based on a three-fold spatial concept.  Firstly, in keeping with the notion of Venice as a continuous, water bound plateau incorporating routes, squares and buildings, the maritime zone is seen as an uninterrupted surface that links together building and quayside.  The plateau has kept the city together throughout historic change.  Secondly, the proposal takes up the notion of the absence of an end perspective by basing its distribution system on an elliptical core, entailing the repeated turning of corners.  Thirdly, the proposal's strong center is based on the public / private distribution of Venetian palace.
 
 

Central Core:
The stepped slope of the core has alley like, double perpendicular walls, a shape like a mirrored arch, and elliptical plan.
 
 
 
 

Model:
The ground level is kept open; the building only touches the ground in two irregular 'footprints'. The public function of the building are situated here.
 
 
 
 
 

First Floor:
The first floor, or foyer level, contains the flexible areas for bookshop and exhibition gallery.
 
 
 
 
 

Second Floor & Section:
The second floor contains the large auditorium with 500 seats and twelve lecture halls, which are reached by means of tubular way finder corridors.

 
 
 
 

Facade Texture:
The upper volume has a layered facade system creating a unified effect and reflecting the three scale levels of the surroundings.  The facade system consists of a structural layer of steel beams, followed by a layer of three different type of perforated, prefabricated, concrete panels, gridded with a cylindrical motif.
 
 
 
 

Exterior:
The steel mesh picks up reflections from the water and renders the facades more of less transparent dependent upon the specter's approximation and angle of approach.  Volume is broken up in this way by means of the strategies of texture and vibrancy.
 
 

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