Oxymoron

Oxymoron, Corderie dell'Arsenale, Venice-Mestre
Oxymoron is a small space enclosed by a timber framework placed amongst the monumental structure of the Corderie. While its lower part is opaque, its upper section, where a pattern of coloured weaves counters the strict geometry of the frame, radiates a seductive glow. Inside, the colour treatment seems to explode the physical confines and large black and white photographs below similarly appear to expand the space.

The installation condenses the architectural themes of Sauerbruch Hutton’s M9 Museum District in Venice Mestre. Adding contemporary interventions to the palimpsest of Mestre’s centre, M9 offers a new type of curated public domain that inspires synergies between cultural, social and commercial activities. Primarily defined by volumetric composition, the spaces of M9 are informed through their material and chromatic presence, actively engaging the visitor in a play between visual perception and haptic reality.

For M9 freespace is a liminal zone between the public and the private spheres that offers itself for occupation. Sauerbruch Hutton’s architecture provides amenity and specifi c atmospheres. Liberating in intent, it still never betrays the fundamentally limiting act of construction. Thus the oxymoron of freespace catches an essential condition of their architectural practice.

M9 Museum District, Venice-Mestre
The M9 museum district comprises seven buildings and includes a converted 16th century convent, a 1970s office structure and a new museum for the history of the 20th century in Italy. An agent of urban renewal, it will help to redress the disparity of cultural wealth between Mestre and the historic centre of Venice across the lagoon. Opening up a central stretch of land that was formerly occupied by military institutions, the district offers a number of new public spaces.

A network of pedestrian links that characterise the neighbourhood lead to a new piazzetta and the weather protected courtyard of the former convent, embedding the quarter into Mestre’s urban tissue. Further, a public lecture hall, restaurant, shop and mediatheque on the ground floor of the new building extend the public realm into the museum. A dramatic staircase draws one up into the realm of exhibitions.

Sauerbruch Hutton