Maximiliane Sattler

Venetian rowing - Voga veneta - is inextricably linked to the history of Venice. Already in the 5th century, when the first parts of the lagoon were settled, the Voga veneta became an essential part of the urban development. Due to conquests of the surrounding settlements, many locals fled into the lagoon in boats to find shelter.

The water in the lagoon was dominated by shoals and sandbanks and therefore required a certain technique to move around the site and transport the necessary building materials. Without the Voga veneta, in which a plane boat is rowed standing up and looking forward, settlement in the shallow waters would not have been possible.

The task of the work was to give this immaterial heritage of the city of Venice, the special rowing technique of the Voga Veneta, a space of execution. A space in which this special technique could not only be conserved and preserved, but also passed on and taught. A rowing club in Venice, which as a representative place should show what the city has shaped and formed in its historical beginnings.

Based on analyses of the typology of the Venetian palazzo, the design of the Rowing Club proposes a fusion of structures of Venetian Palazzo with industrial influences from the Arsenale. From an urban planning point of view, the volume of the Rowing Club occupies a place in the overall representative view of the Arsenale. Situated between the Casa del Bucintoro and the nave of the Squadratori building, the solitary building of the Rowing Club completes the urban structure with its scale and cubature. 

From a functional point of view, representative functions, just like a ballroom, a gallery and a trophy collection are also included in the spatial programme in addition to sports uses such as the large boat halls and the Palestra.

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