The Dale Chihuly Foundation is returning glassmaking to the islands of Venice. The new Glassworks is part artist studios, glass factory, glass museum and theater and short-term residency for the artists and their families. It is to be located along the northern fundamenta of the city. which is currently a marina. As the last remaining piece of the city yet to be completed, and located at a major entry to the city from both the airport and islands to the north, the new Glassworks will also create a new public campo for the city, its adjoining neighborhoods connecting to adjacent restaurants, hotels, cultural spaces as well as the new Glassworks itself. The new Misericordia campo will be the first and only public square along the entire northern boundary of Venice, and as such will be an important point of arrival, visual destination and have symbolic importance for the historical city.

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As stated earlier, the given site can be seen as a missing city block, therefore, the first step of the design process is to analyze the characteristics of a regular block and its behavior to the surrounding. Urbanisticly, means of transportation are limited to boats and pedestrian walkways(also known as fondamentas) in Venice, therefore, the new addition of the city must carry all the characteristics of an existing block, in terms of circulation and elevation. Also, Venice is well-known for its historical preservation, and the new addition of the Chihuly Campus has a responsibility to respond the neighborhood.

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One of the main concerns of the project is to be an existing member of the society, rather than becoming an alien new-comer, therefore, before the consideration of program, the urbanistic aspects of the approach needs to be solidified as the first step.

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The new Chihuly Campus will become an active member of the city, connecting the nodes of fondamentas on the surrounding islands, preserve the canals that carries the boat transportation and finally providing open public spaces for recreational use.

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Fondamenta: in order to become an active member of the city, the base of Chihuly Campus acts as an uninterrupted walkway that connects two nodes of the surrounding islands.Therefore, the visitors of the campus can vitalize it regardless if they interact with the programs or not. Acting as a diagonal, the fondamenta dissects the campus into two sides: campo side(southern) and hot-shop side(northern).

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Inner Canal: Located between the Fondamenta and the Glassworks, the inner canal allows boat circulation to the campus, as well as creating an intimate experience for the visitors.

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Campo: connected to the fondamenta, the campi will provide open air recreational space to the campus, as well as art display areas.

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a)Elevated Walkway: On the southern part of the fondamenta, the elevated walkway will give the visitors a height advantage that will provide unobstructed views of the city as well as surrounding the campi to create a more intimate experience for the visitors.

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Museum: The Chihuly Glass Museum includes both interior and private exterior museum spaces for the fourteen varied art collections, spanning Dale Chihuly’s entire career. Each piece has been donated the Dale Chihuly Foundation and will be permanently on display. Its discrete form composed of different heights provides unique display areas for each collection. It is located on top of the fondamenta, so that circulation path will remain uninterrupted. Since the museum covers top of the fondamenta, light-wells are punctured on the form so that the pathway can have the necessary ventilation and natural light. These light-wells will also act as display areas for certain art pieces and will provide a unique light experience for the visitors walking under the space.

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Glassworks: The Glassworks is composed of four working studios created and supported by the Dale Chihuly Foundation. Each of the four glass studios include a workplace consisting of material supplies and storage, hot-shop furnace area with its seating for the public, glass finishing area, packing and raw material storage area, and both interior and private exterior gallery for the work completed by the artist in residence and their apprentices.

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a) Catwalk: as part of the fondamenta, the catwalk is an elevated walkway that wraps around the Glassworks Hot-shops. This walkway will allow the visitors to look inside the hot-shops without being inside, as well as providing egress stairs leading to the seating areas.

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b)Interior Courtyards: located adjacent to the workshops, the courtyards will provide exterior lea-sure space as well as natural ventilation.

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c)Hot-shop Dockyard: Located at the water level, the dockyard will allow boat access to the hot-shops for the transportation of goods.

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d)Vapouretta Point: Located at the northern most part of the site, the vapouretta dock is an active part of the fondamenta and will receive visitors of the campus via local public transportation.

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