GIANT FILTRATION SYSTEM SERVES ESPRESSO MADE WITH WATER FROM VENICE CANALS
Visitors may get their Italian espresso at this year's Biennale Architettura (Architecture Biennale) in Venice from an unexpected place: the canals. The Canal Cafe, created by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), is a creative and distinctively site-specific concept by the architectural team that created such famous structures as New York City's High Line.
According to DS+R, the installation serves freshly brewed coffee straight from purified water and is "half espresso bar, part laboratory." The company created a transparent conduit that draws water from the Arsenale lagoon next to the hybrid natural-artificial purifying system in order to achieve this. After being cleaned of sludge, pollutants, and other debris by a bio-filtration system, the water is divided into two interdependent streams: one that mimics a "micro-wetland" where salt-tolerant halophytes facilitate purification but retain minerals, and the other that goes through artificial filtration, reverse osmosis, and UV disinfection. When finished, both streams are combined, steam-cooked, and pushed through coffee grinds to create a unique and delectable beverage.
Although the city's waterways are among its most striking assets, they are also among its most vulnerable. Venetian boat traffic has significantly grown in an attempt to accommodate mass tourism, which has made the environmental problem worse. In reality, a 2019 European Parliament investigation cited unlicensed boats with diesel marine engines as the reason why Venice's water pollution was deemed "worrying." The metropolis, which is gradually sinking as a result of rising sea levels, harsh weather, and regular flooding, is also at risk from climate change.
Venice's canals are elaborate, seductive, and magnificent in these conditions, but they may also be dangerous and contaminated. By converting the city's brackish waters into the "comforting aroma and taste" of espresso—an Italian speciality and, in many respects, a daily ritual—DS+R's Canal Cafe strikes that delicate balance. The Canal Cafe won the Golden Lion Award for finest participation in the 19th annual Biennale Architettura, possibly for these very reasons.
