Urban Radicals presented a temporary pavilion “A Brick for Venice” as part of the European Cultural Center’s “Time Space Existence program during the same time as the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. The entirety of the brick pavilion was made with mud from the city’s canals. Furthermore, “A Brick for Venice” is the first proof of concept for the team’s novel waste-based construction product.
Led by architects and designers Urban Radicals, the pavilion draws inspiration from the brickwork and geometries of Venetian chimneys. The display reimagines these forms and one inhabitable column, creating an immersive space for visitors to experience. At its core, the construction attempts to deal with Venice’s fragility in the face of the rising climate crisis. As the city’s land subsides and the planet’s sea levels continue to rise, Venice continues to experience unprecedented flooding of increasing frequency. Moreover, these situations are worsened by specific clay-like silt that clogs the city’s canal network. The polluted sediment must be filtered by the municipal authorities and is routinely dumped on the nearby Tresse Island.
“A Brick for Venice” explores the potential of the natural and readily available waste sediment material for construction use. It is a low-carbon construction product so it can become readily available for mainstream architecture applications. Moreover, this methodology of thinking and application of such materials will be the catalyst for a net-zero future, specifically in the built environment. The pavilion showcases these core principles and presents a closed-loop material system where waste products are given a new and efficient life.
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"It is Important to Give Authorship to the Public": An Interview With Urban RadicalsIn projects, an idea often drives us outside of our comfort zones to find out, collaborate and make something fantastic happen. This has been an incredible effort from the whole team. We are hoping the garden visitors take the time to appreciate the craftsmanship of local bricklayers and immerse into the intimate space we created, reading a book or gazing at the sky under the soft flickering of shadow. – Nasios Varnavas, Urban Radicals
The new brick prototype is made with only sustainable materials. The mud from the Tresse silt is combined with natural lime mortar to form the brick’s principal binding agent. Afterward, the brick incorporates secondary and recycled products from around the local region in order to gain rigidity. These materials include but are not limited to demolished concrete, brick, and mortar, and offcuts from Venice’s paving stones. In the final steps, natural hemp fiber from the surrounding Veneto region is added for tensile strength.
After many rounds of sourcing, grading, sampling, testing, and fabricating, “A Brick for Venice” has become an example of what the construction world might look like in the future. Under Lesley Lokko’s carefully curated theme “The Laboratory of the Future,” Urban Radicals has attempted to envision a net-zero future. In fact, this topic was further discussed with the design duo last year as one of ArchDaily’s Best New Practices. In the interview, Urban Radicals explains their multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches. This year in Venice, the European Cultural Center also showcased its sixth edition of the Time Space Architecture Exhibition. The exhibition circles around the broader theme of sustainability, with a focus on people displacement, digital building technologies, and material research.
- Urban Radicals architects-designers:
Era Savvides
Nasios Varnavas
AKT II engineers:
Edoardo Tibuzzi
Alessandro Margnelli
Danae Poliviou
Iason Pelekis
Jan Friedlin
Mark Harrington
Luke Fox
Lucy Staley
- Local Works Studio material designers:
Ben Bosence
Loretta Bosence - With thanks to: Gaetano di Gregorio, Venice Port Authority and Jacopo Vantini
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
