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Research ArticlePeer-Reviewed Articles

Tropical Typhoons and Humble Markers

Notes on the Past and Future of the Venice Lagoon

Ludovico Centis
Landscape Journal, November 2023, 42 (2) 25-40; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/lj.42.2.25
Ludovico Centis
Ludovico Centis is an architect, founder of the architecture and planning office The Empire, and co‐founder and editor of the architecture magazine San Rocco. Centis holds a PhD in Urbanism from Università Iuav di Venezia. He has been the 2013–2014 Peter Reyner Banham Fellow at the University at Buffalo–SUNY and was awarded a 2018 Getty Library Research Grant at the Getty Center and a 2020 Paul Mellon Centre Research Support Grant. Most recently, Centis was a post‐doctoral research fellow at Università Iuav di Venezia and a visiting school head at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. He is currently assistant professor in Urbanism at the University of Trieste.
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Abstract

Venice has a pluricentennial history of modifying the morphology of its lagoon and hydrographic basin. This uniqueness only partially relates to the cyclopean works that, since the early 17th century, led to the deviation of the mouths of all the main rivers from the lagoon (to prevent its filling) and the erection of dikes (to protect the littoral from erosion). The lagoon’s most significant feature is the non‐despotic, non‐vexatious, public, bureaucratic, and conservationist water management system run by the Republic of Venice. The most tangible evidence of this unique system of water management is composed of a hundred humble markers that punctuate what used to be (and mainly still is) the conterminazione lagunare, the area under the control of the Magistrato alle Acque (the Venetian Magistracy for the Waterways). Comparing the borders of the lagoon today with the path traced by these defining markers allows for an appreciation of the enduring challenges that this complex environment faces and will continue to face. This globally relevant case study of Venice and its lagoon encourages timely reflection on the effects of climate change on cultural heritage.

  • Venice lagoon
  • climate change
  • water management
  • territorial governance
  • conterminazione lagunare
  • cultural heritage
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Landscape Journal: 42 (2)
Landscape Journal
Vol. 42, Issue 2
1 Nov 2023
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Tropical Typhoons and Humble Markers
Ludovico Centis
Landscape Journal Nov 2023, 42 (2) 25-40; DOI: 10.3368/lj.42.2.25

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Tropical Typhoons and Humble Markers
Ludovico Centis
Landscape Journal Nov 2023, 42 (2) 25-40; DOI: 10.3368/lj.42.2.25
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Visions of a Tropical Venice
    • Lagoon Space and Providential Time
    • The Walls of Venice
    • In the Admiral’s Footsteps
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Keywords

  • Venice lagoon
  • climate change
  • water management
  • territorial governance
  • conterminazione lagunare
  • cultural heritage
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