'city to dust' floor installation depicts tourism's negative impact in venice

studio L A has collaborated with baukje trenning to exhibit ‘city to dust’, a continuously changing installation that showcases the negative impact of tourism in venice. located on one of the arsenale floors at the venice biennale, the project takes shape as a terrazzo flooring that represents the map of venice and forces visitors to cross it in order to enter the next space on their route. if one is not careful enough, each step has the potential to slowly break away the city, while is a confrontation with one’s own responsibility.all images © marco cappelletti unless stated otherwise

through this installation, studio L A together with baukje trenning has depicted the map of venice utilizing two different hues of concrete terrazzo. before the biennale opened its doors, venice was an empty city where the beauty became visible again. it looked much more like the advertising cliches shared over the world, showing venice without tourist groups, thus emphasizing its mythical dimension in the collective consciousness. behind its beauty lies the world of the coronavirus pandemic, which came out of the large-scale movement of people flying from place to place without taking responsibility.

venice is one of the most popular destinations for these people at the expense of its inhabitants. it’s therefore not a coincidence that the pandemic hit it so hard. today, the absence of mass tourism makes it possible to rethink new strategies for the city with a focus on venetians and the places they inhabit. with this in mind, the creators presented ‘city to dust’ as an installation that guests impact and become part of.

venice beauty, which attracts attention and visitors, simultaneously represents its biggest threat. as the creators stated, the increasing number of tourists slowly brings the city closer to its demise. ‘as visitors and participants of the biennale, we inevitably take part in this dynamic. through our installation, we allow visitors to experience this duality and to form a new perspective on the city, the human community and themselves.’

the terrazzo techniques originate from the area around venice and are several hundred years old. from the second half of the 19th century, italian workers from the poor region of friuli migrated all over europe. tomaello by terrazzo & concrete, who developed the tiles for the project together with studio L A and baukje trenning is a dutch descendant of these highly-skilled arts and crafts workers. furthermore, the installation is opened on may 19th by the dutch writer ilja leonard pfeijffer, who took the first step and recited his written column ‘city to dust’.

image © flavio pescatori

project info:

name: city to dust

designer: studio L A in collaboration with baukje trenning

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: christina petridou | designboom