DISA INITIATIVES WITHIN THE 18TH INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION IN VENICE 2023

The Department of Management of the Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna intervenes at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, within the activities of the Austrian Pavilion, with a series of initiatives related to research and public discussions, in collaboration with other universities in Europe and public institutions at the national and international level.

Scientific coordinator of the initiatives at DISA: Luca Zan, Department of Management-Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna - luca.zan@unibo.it

Contribution to the Catalogue of the Austrian Pavillion

The Austrian Pavilion this year came up with a solid intellectual provocation concerning the theme of participatory processes. Luca Zan ( in collaboration with Franco Mancuso and Claudio Menichelli, wrote a chapter on the catalog called "Exclusion and Inclusion in the Biennial Spaces: a purposeful reflection".

"The Biennale has represented a major cultural reality for the city for over a century, among the most important internationally. In recognizing this value to be maintained and reinforced, we want to initiate considerations on expanding the use of the Arsenal and the Castello Gardens in this chapter. Thinking about the development of projects that lead to an opening of the two sites, not only in the spaces and during exhibition periods, in addition to bringing benefit to citizens, would make the Biennale's link with Venice even stronger and more vital. The path is not simple […]."

The Austrian Pavilion: a case study

The case will also be subject to a research study within the "UNCHARTED - Understanding, Capturing and Fostering the Societal Value of Culture" Horizon2020 project, focused on the valuation practices of the actors involved in cultural life. The Research will aim at reconstructing the development of the Austrian Pavilion initiative, from its original view, the process of bargaining of the idea within the broader context of the Biennale 2023, up to the opening of the exhibition, and later on, considering the activities associated with the Pavilion.

Three workshops on The Transformation of European Historical Shipyards and Arsenals (EHS&A)

The transformation of European Historical Shipyards and Arsenals into heritage sites poses crucial issues for preservation, protection, and use, with significant socio-economic impacts. Their changing uses—from production to other activities (e.g., exhibitions, shops, housing)—have detached them from their original meanings and imbued them with new ontologies that somehow co-habit with the old ones, leading to tensions between preservation and innovation. Practically, this has also brought managerial challenges far subtler than generating income and managing visitor flows: sites must trade-off the different and often conflicting priorities of preservation, productivity, housing, visitor enjoyment, community engagement, etc., often taking place with huge process of urban regeneration. For this project, we invite experts of the main EHS&A to discuss the process of transformation of these sites, with a particular lens on open access and access from citizens. This will provide a unique opportunity for discussing possible developments in general and in particular for the Venice Arsenal.

Within the activities of the Austrian Pavilion program at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, the Department of Management of the University of Bologna and Oxford University, with the collaboration of a variety of institutions involved in the transformation of individual EHS, has organized a series of three workshops that will be held on June 24, September 30, and November 4, 2023

The first workshop will take place on 24 June at the facilities of Ca' Foscari University in San Giobbe (Aula 6A, Ca' Foscari University, Fondamenta S. Giobbe, 873 – Venezia), h.9.00-13.00. i

The workshop will be held the presence and on streaming (thanks to AIPAI-Associazione Italiana per il Patrimonio Archeologico Industriale) at this link: YT STREAMING

Participation is free.

The schedule of the 1^st workshop is as follows:

• 09:00-09:30    Presentation of the whole research project: rationale and goals
  Luca Zan, Department of Management-Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna & Pegram Harrison, Oxford University
• 09:30-10:15    The Venice Arsenal: a recap of 40 Years of Debate
  Luca Zan, Department of Management-Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna
• 10:15-11:15    Portsmouth, heritage and transformation of a historical shipyard
  Karen McBride, University of Portsmouth
• 11:15-11:30    Coffee break
• 11:30-12:30    The La Spezia Arsenal. Ideas for a possible evolution
  Admiral Dino Nascetti
• 12:30-13:00    A first open discussion

The 1st workshop took place on June 24, 2023, and is available: here 

Second Workshop, September 29, 2023, 9:00-18:00 - Aula Volpato, Ca’ Foscari University, Fondamenta S. Giobbe, 873, 30121 Venezia VE.

• 09:00-09:30 Presentation of the overall research project: rational and goals
  Sum up of discussion at the 1dt Workshop on June 24
  Luca Zan, University of Bologna & Pegram Harrison, University of Oxford
• 09:30-10:30 The transformation of the Barcelona shipyard
  Enric Garcia, Director, Olga Lopez and Inma González, Museu Maritim Barcelona
• 10:30-11:30 The transformation of the Copenhagen Holmen shipyard
  Jakob Seerup, previously a curator at the Royal Danish Naval Museum
• 11:30-12:00 Coffee break
  12:00-13:00 The shipyards at Brest and its transformation
  Pierrick Pourchasse, independent scholar, and David Celetti, University of Padua
• 13:00-14:30 lunch
• 14:30-15:30 The transformation of the ancient Genoa Arsenal
  Pierangelo Campodonico and Giovanni Carosio, Museo del Mare e delle Migrazioni
• 15:30-16:00 Coffee break
  16:00-17:00 Karskrona
  Malin Jogmark, Karskrona Naval Museum, and Elena Peverada, coordinator of the UNESCO
  site “The Naval Port of Karlskrona”
• 17:00-18:00 Open discussion

The 2nd workshop took place on September 29, and is available here

Third Workshop, November 3rd, 2023, 9:00-18:00 - Aula Saraceno, Ca’ Foscari University, Fondamenta S. Giobbe, 873, 30121 Venezia VE.

• 09:00-09:20 Welcome by AIPAI President, Italian Association for Industrial Heritage (Edoardo Currà) and ArTec President, Italian Society for Architectural Engineering (Fabio Fatiguso)
• 09.20-10:00 Presentation of the overall research project: rational and goals Sum up of discussion at the 1st and 2nd Workshops on June 24 and September 29 Luca Zan, University of Bologna & Pegram Harrison, University of Oxford
• 10:00-11:00 The case of Chatham Paul Bernard
• 11:00-11:30 Coffee break
• 11:30-12:30 The shipyards of Barcelona and its transformation Enric Garcia, Inma González, Olga López
• 12:30-14:30 lunch
• 14:30-15:30 The transformation of the ancient shipyard of Rocherfort Eric Kocher Marboeuf
• 15:30-16:00 The PRIN Project, RE3WORK – REsilient REtrofitting and REuse of Water heritage and built environments: multi-objective Optimization for RisK mitigation and cultural enhancement Fabio Fatiguso and Mariella De Fino, Polytechnic of Bari Aldo Patruno, Director of Apulia Region – Department of Tourism, Economy of Culture and Valorization of Territory Ugo Patroni Griffi, President of the Ports Network Authority of the Southern Adriatic Sea (tbc)
• 16:00-16:30 Coffee break
• 16:30-18:00 Open discussion & future steps

Participation is open, without registration (both in person and online). 
Live streaming   (Kindly hosted by AIKU)

Contact person: jessica.tanghetti@unibo.it