Zoom Venezia
BA - Venice Excursion, 2016
  • Bachelor
  • Biennale
  • Cologne
  • Excursion
  • GPS

Zoom Venezia is an ongoing project for understanding the importance of scale in Architecture. The annual excursion to the Venetian capital is the beginning of the academic study for our Bachelor students and allows for discovering the multiple architectural facets in the city and at the Venice Biennale. Moreover, the historic urban structure serves as a laboratory for the research of different spatial contexts, sizes, proportions and transitions. The density of Venice’s urban space is remarkably poignant. All elements of the city are part of a dense structure and have more of a linking than a dividing character. The spatial perception of a city always develops from movement. The speed in which we access and discover a city varies, not only depending on our own speed but also due to the narrowing and widening of urban spaces. The spatial perception of a city always develops from movement. The motion in which we access and discover a city varies, not only depending on our own speed but also due to the narrowing and widening of urban spaces.

In this light, Venice’s urban spaces were analyzed in different zoom levels: from city to quarters, from squares to buildings right down to facades and the building details to a scale 1:1. The perception and visual presentation of the relationship between man and space were the central point of reference. Charles and Ray Eames’ documentary, Powers of Ten served as a connectional framework for the exploration of different scales in Venice. In addition to drawing and graphic methods of spatial documentation such as sketch, drawing, and mapping, also media formats like photos and film and GPS-tracking for spatial documentation of various scales in the city were used.