The renovations of the Porta Nuova Tower at the Arsenale were finalised few days ago. The work has been realised based on a project of the architects Traudy Pelzel and Francesco Magnani and financed by the state’s property management department, the Municipality of Venice and the Region of Veneto. On the occasion of the end of works, on 8th of last April, a press conference was held with the participation, among others, of the Mayor of Venice, the Director of the state’s property management department and the two architects that in 2006 won the design competition promoted by Arsenale of Venice Spa.

The Porta Nuova Tower had been built during the works for the revitalisation of the Arsenale, on the initiative of the second French dominion, during the period 1809-1814.

Among these works, a new entrance, called Porta Nuova, had been realised in the oriental perimeter fence of the Arsenale, next to the homonymous Tower. The impressive 35 m high walls had been planned with the function of machine to place the masts of the big ships. In the last years, before the renovations started, the state of neglect of the Tower’s structures was so serious that it did not allow, for a long time, the visits for security reasons. The recovery plan combined the conservation and the valorisation of the historic building with the new function of exhibition and cultural centre through the conservation of the original status, that is, the wide vertical empty space inside, and through the inclusion of new structures independent from the historical ones.

The building is tripartite: a central space, a rectangular and narrow space in the western part, and a trapezoidal plant space in the eastern part. The internal space is re-unified at the second level, at an altitude of 8,57 m, through two big ogival arches located on the spine wall. The proposed plan recognises the vertical continuity of internal space and the unification of the space at an altitude of 8,57 m as the typological, formal and structural characteristics that the plan underlines, valorises and interprets together with a structured system of works and with the rationalisation of the main lift systems. To this purpose, some principles have been established: the new structures for additional services, the supplied installations ad the lift systems are always volumetrically independent from the existing wall structures in order to valorise the visual perception of the unity of the building. Moreover, new used materials (bréton brut, panels of fibre cement on the ground, weathering steels) are in relation with the pre-existing materials, which are different in their consistency and their colour.

The Tower will become a production centre for scientific, historical and cultural research related to the Arsenale. In addition, it will be a showcase and an info point on the activities developed at the Arsenale by the operators present in that area. The exposition space will be at artists’ disposal, in order to make them able to use the exceptional structure of the Tower.

The tower is the place where the Pilot Action of the European Project Second Chance is implemented by the Arsenale of Venice spa and the Municipality of Venice that are partners together with other eight public and private agencies. The Second Chance project started in January 2010 and it will end in June 2013. It has been approved in the framework of the European Programme Central Europe 2007-2013 and it is aimed at the revitalisation of abandoned industrial zones by transforming them in cultural and creative spaces: besides Venice, the cities of Leipzig, Nuremberg, Krakow and Ljubljana are involved.

The Arsenale of Venice is historically part of the abandoned industrial zones category. However, during the second half of 20th century, the processes concerning that area made the Arsenale case, one on hand, a case comparable to the other big abandoned industrial area of the central Europe and, on the other hand, an absolutely original case.

Some of these processes were: closedown of existing activities; relinquishment of infrastructures; new and fragmentary use of the spaces that is marginal in some cases, and innovative, in other cases, with regards to the use and to the productive functions; a new use of the spaces different from the original functions which those buildings and infrastructures were aimed at (biennale and cultural uses).

For years, the city, the involved actors and the international community have been looking at the future of the Arsenale of Venice. The Municipality of Venice has substantially carried out its duty to implement the important choices taken in the “city prefiguration” (general and implementing city plans) that is necessary to start the urban refurbishment and the revitalisation processes. At the same time, thanks to the PRUSST (urban regeneration and sustainable development programme), a practice of dialogue and consultation with public and private agencies has been established in order to evaluate the modes of action.

Now, the Second Chance project makes it possible to continue the great recovery action for the Arsenale through regeneration actions specifically linked to the artistic and cultural sector, even analysing the possibility to create partnerships with private investors at the local level.

The project has an innovative character since, in all selected areas, art and culture are used as urban catalysts in order to valorise the abandoned areas, recognising to these two sectors the capacity to promote new economic activities and their use by citizens and associations active in the social life of the city.