CONSTRUCTION

THE BUILDING ENVIRONMENT

the Italian Peninsula during the Pliocene Epoch and Würm Glaciation  -   birth of the Venetian Lagoon  -   diversion of the Brenta, Sile, and Piave Rivers  -   the Rialto Islands

EARLY CONSTRUCTION

primitive dwellings  -   indigenous building materials  -   the first churches  -   architectural prototypes  -   building materials used  -   their sources  -   foundations

CISTERNS AND “CAMPI”

PERMANENT SECULAR CONSTRUCTIONS

foundations  -   piling  -   on the manner of driving piles  -   woods used  -   Istrian Stone  -   its qualities, commerce, and hewing  -   flooring materials  -   “Pastellon” and “Terrazzo alla Veneziana”  -   their composition  -   facades: brick stucco, frescoes, “regalzier”, and roundels


URBANIZATION

THE “CASA FONDACO”

SPACE AND LIGHT

“liag”  -   “barbacani”  -   “bottle glass”  -   “altane”

LINKING TOGETHER

land reclamation  -   “Rio Terà”  -   streets  -   their layout and pavement  -   bridges  -   early crossings  -   private and public interest bridges  -   quays  -   the Rialto Bridge  -   “traghetti”


DETERIORATION

ACTIVE CAUSES

daily and seasonal temperature fluctuations  -   sudden freezing of infiltrated rain water and condensed humidity  -   capillary humidity  -   “Acqua Alta”  -   carbon dioxide from industrial waste  -   sulfurs, sulfates, and ammonium salts  -   “moto ondoso”  -   wind and rain erosion  -   microfauna, bacteria, and excrement

SULFATATION AND CORROSION

“ACQUA ALTA”

SUBSISTANCE

GLOBAL WARMING