The urban transformation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, driven by scientific and technological progress, shaped European cities. This metamorphosis involved all aspects of city life, from infrastructure to mobility, from social services to economics, from sanitation to residency. Even Venice, with its unique configuration, was not immune to these transformations, which gave birth to a modern city in an original way, while maintaining its distinctive characteristics and peculiarities.
The exhibition, “Venice and Science: Two Centuries of Sustainability in the City of Venice,” organized by the Istituto Veneto di Lettere, Scienze ed Arti together with the Fondazione Venezia Capitale Mondiale della Sostenibilità / Venice Sustainability Foundation within the framework of the Biennale della Sostenibilità 2023 – L’Era del MOSE, offers a compelling account of how scientific and technological progress has sought to place itself at the service of the city, ensuring that it was not excluded from the modernization process and thus rethinking the horizons of its social and cultural life.
More than 80 pieces are on display, about 300 of them can be explored through an immersive installation; a real journey through documents: engravings, drawings, photographs, maps, models, measuring instruments and projects-sometimes put into action, sometimes remaining only imagined or partially realized.
There are many curiosities unknown to most that, thanks to a careful work of collection and analysis of a great deal of material by the Istituto Veneto di Lettere, Scienze ed Arti, come out of the archives and are offered to the public as evidence of a strong push for change that represents an invitation to rethink a period for Venice of revival and projection towards a future of great creativity and modernization.
The exhibition will be open daily from Oct. 7 to Nov. 12 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Palazzo Loredan, Venice. For more information see the website of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti.
To accompany the exhibition, the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti proposes the screening of three documentaries:
- Wednesday 18 October, 5.30 p.m., Itinerari di archeologia industriale by Roberto Ellero and Carlo Montanaro
- Thuesday 7 November, at 5.30 p.m., Quattro passi per Venezia by Francesco De Feo and Venezia città moderna by Ermanno Olmi introduced by Carlo Montanaro and Davide Terrin
The screenings will be held at Palazzo Franchetti, Campo S. Stefano 2847.
Admission free subject to availability. Reservations are recommended by writing to accrediti@istitutoveneto.it.