Kelly Lai

Raft like upon the fluctuating waters of the lagoon, Venice is an island in constant negotiation with the rise and fall of the flood. This thesis emerged out of a proposed intervention into the chimeric architecture of Carlo Scarpa’s Fondazione Querini Stampalia, an architectural Venice in miniature that choreographs the acqua alta deep into its interior. Reimagining its upper floor as a form of articulated raft, a strategy to similarly negotiate the temporalities and fluctuations of the lagoon emerged.

Four Gates and the Garden of Crisantemi enables the cultivation and dissemination of white chrysanthemums, Crisantemi, within the Sacca della Misericordia on the edge of the Venetian Lagoon. Cristantemi is the flower Venetians traditionally place on the grave of loved ones and this garden forms a new gateway, by boat, to the neighbouring cemetery island of San Michele.

The reconstruction of the internal garden involves four gate-like architectures which support the flower production, each a threshold condition in dialogue with the waters of Venice – bridge, dock, harbour, canal. Together they form an enclosed garden of raised beds viewed only from above. While guarding an internal stability, the design focuses on the opportunities to invite external conditions into the space. The elevated position of both public realm and cultivated beds protect the production from the encroaching waters whilst welcoming their occasional, delimited entrance.