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ASAC Biennale di Venezia

description
Tender proposal for the new Historic Archive of Contemporary Arts (ASAC) of the Biennale di Venezia

The project to relocate the historic Archives of Contemporary Arts (ASAC) to the Arsenale enhances the restoration and conservation needs of the monumental asset by emphasizing the predominantly public function of the Archives: a new living facility open to citizens and researchers, a pulsating connection to the city’s history. A new public space then, in the heart of the Arsenale, that highlights the Biennale’s commitment to the culture and community of the city of Venice. An action of recovery and reuse of existing heritage that is the most sustainable choice. In the designers’ intention, a careful restoration of the original elements and elements characterizing the successive layers of industrial archaeology are flanked by punctual reversible, light and modular interventions that emphasize an integral and typological reading of the buildings in which they are inserted. The new elevation structures will be made predominantly of wood and metal, with a dry technology in order to minimize, as much as possible, the impact of the construction site on the existing buildings. An integrated system of lightweight furniture made with certified low-carbon technologies will solve the functional needs of each space. The system will be easy to move and easy to assemble and implement. The cafeteria is conceived as a lively meeting place, strategically connected to the exhibition spaces of the Corderie, located next to the main entrance to the Biennale exhibition spaces at the Arsenal. The project defines with particular attention the theme of the main access to the archival spaces, between the two project compartments and the theme of the open space in front of it, as well as the theme of the redevelopment of the elevations of buildings 290A and 291 that accompany the user to the main entrance of the Archives. The exhibition space, in which the Archives is shown to the public, will be treated as a kind of living archive, a space in which visitors will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the extraordinary cultural heritage housed within the ASAC. Systems for displaying and storing different materials (e.g., models) will be able to freely reference the weapons and artillery storage systems once present within the Arsenal.