Photo: Iwan Baan
At this year’s Biennale Architettura (Architecture Biennale) in Venice, visitors can grab their Italian espressos from an unexpected source: the city’s canals. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the Canal Cafe is an innovative and uniquely site-specific project from the architecture firm behind such iconic landmarks as the High Line in New York City.
The installation is “part espresso bar, part laboratory,” according to DS+R, offering fresh coffee made directly from purified water. To accomplish this, the firm designed a hybrid natural-artificial purification system, with a transparent pipe drawing water from the Arsenale lagoon beside it. The water then enters a bio-filtration system that strips it from sludge, toxins, and other debris, before being split into two interdependent streams: one simulating a “micro-wetland” where salt-tolerant halophytes “facilitate purification but retain minerals,” and the other undergoing artificial filtration, reverse osmosis, and UV disinfection. Once complete, both streams are mixed, steamed, and forced through coffee grounds, resulting in a delicious yet singular drink.
Venice’s waterways are arguably one of the city’s most remarkable features, but they’re also one of its most vulnerable. In an effort to accommodate mass tourism, Venetian boat traffic has increased substantially, adding to the environmental issue. In fact, a 2019 report from the European Parliament classified Venice’s water pollution as “worrying,” citing unregulated boats with diesel marine engines. Climate change is another threat to the city, which is slowly sinking due to rising sea levels, extreme weather, and frequent flooding.
Under these circumstances, Venice’s canals are intricate, alluring, and grand, as well as a possible source of danger and contamination. DS+R’s Canal Cafe addresses that delicate balance, transforming the city’s brackish waters into the “comforting scent and taste” of espresso, an Italian specialty and, in many ways, a daily tradition. It’s perhaps for these very reasons that the Canal Cafe received the Golden Lion Award for the best participation in the 19th annual Biennale Architettura.
To learn more about the architecture firm and the Canal Cafe, visit the Diller Scofidio + Renfro website.
For this year’s Biennale Architettura in Venice, Diller Scofidio + Renfro designed the Canal Cafe, which serves espresso made from the city’s water.
Photo: Iwan Baan
Photo: Iwan Baan
Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
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