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The Death, the Vine and the Soil

Typology: Academic Research
University: Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Site: Poveglia, Venetian Lagoon, Italy
Year: 2020, 2019

The Death, the Vine and the Soil Poveglia Island Elevation
The Death, the Vine and the Soil Cavana

Poised between terroir, phenomenological and Gothic Architecture, the design rises from the ground where it will return in the fullness of time.

The project aims to introduce a Human Composting facility and Biodynamic Winery on the abandoned Island of Poveglia in the Venetian Lagoon.

Poveglia, also called the Island of Death, used to serve as a quarantine station for those suffering from the plague and later on as a mental hospital. The island’s narrative contributes to the belief that half of its terrain is composed of human remains.

The Death, the Vine and the Soil Altar Objects
The Death, the Vine and the Soil Cathedral's Plan

By transplanting Dorona vines into the island, the process of composting allows the deceased body to turn into soil for the vineyard. The processes employed create an apparatus for the representation of Venice’s transmutation, against its supposed impending death. 

Vines, bones, loam, petrified wood, boats, chalices, and many other characters, unite in a romantic spatial and temporal choreography.

The performance reflects in the tranquil water of the lagoon and the visitors uncover the architectural footprint during twilight at dusk. 

The Death, the Vine and the Soil Poveglia Plan
The Death, the Vine and the Soil Sunset Island Approach

The scanned vertical symmetry further hints at the harmonious inversion of two worlds, synchronised and dependent on each other, living and dead, aerobic and anaerobic, material and immaterial, creative and destructive. 

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