Can ‘The Moses Project’ Stop the Tides in Venice?
Travel Blog • Eva Holland • 10.29.07 | 9:58 AM ET
Photo: Getty Images.The people backing the $7 billion project certainly hope so. And so do a number of observers from low-lying port cities around the world, where flood concerns are on the increase as the polar ice caps melt. As Doug Saunders writes in an interesting essay in The Globe and Mail, “when we visit Venice today, we are visiting our homes tomorrow.”
Moses, or the Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, is an engineering experiment on a massive scale, designed to regulate the tides in the lagoon and prevent sudden flooding while still allowing even the largest cruise and container ships to pass through. Saunders visited the work-in-progress on a recent trip to the city, and also spent time wandering the back alleys and working industrial areas of the Arsenale, Castello and Cannaregio districts. His story is as much an homage to what he sees as the “real” Venice as it is a report on a potential shield against the impact of climate change.
Saunders recommends not only visiting Venice’s lesser-known neighborhoods, but also seeing them in the tourist off-season. “When it’s lonely, this is the best place to see Venice at work,” he writes of Castello’s aging shipyards and narrow canals.
He continues:
Look at the way the ground floors are built and supported—the ancient, impeccable supports are fully visible here. Look at the rot setting in, the completely abandoned lower and top floors of many buildings (Venice is being depopulated), the jury-rigged bids to keep the water out, the stonework that seems to be holding forever, the shocking ornamental details in places where nobody could possibly want to look. Watch what the less wealthy residents of these back quarters are doing, and think what would happen to your neighbourhood if its streets became canals.
Venice, like Las Vegas or Monaco, had always been one of those places where I couldn’t picture anyone actually making a permanent home for themselves—until I visited for a week last November. Saunders’s essay is a welcome reminder that there is far more at stake in Venice than just those postcard-perfect views in St. Mark’s Square.
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Emily 10.29.07 | 2:55 PM ET
This doesn’t make sense to me….is trying to manipulate the weather to make our homes livable really the smartest idea long term? As well as working to reverse environmental damage, shouldn’t we be looking to abandon unwise settlements (Venice, new Orleans, California) and move into safer areas in a way that doesn’t harm the environment.
Although I think we should keep the ghost cities like museums, so that I can keep visiting!
Askin Ozcan 10.31.07 | 11:35 PM ET
Venice is one of the wisest, most beautiful and most inspiring cities on earth.
What is not wise, mankind’s inability to
protect his environment which has resulted in the acute and chronic climatic changes.
While on one hand we must tackle with this inability, on the other hand, we must do all possible to save Venice.
Prof.(h.c.) Architect Askin Ozcan
Author of
THE SECOND VENICE
ISBN 1598000888 Outskirts Press
Jack from eyeflare travel tips 10.11.08 | 7:52 PM ET
I really hope these works to safeguard Venice will be very successful. That city is one of my absolute favorites and I’m planning on coming back many more times.
Elliot Ono 10.26.08 | 4:43 AM ET
Venice is a very historical city and everything most be done to safe the city.
matt 10.27.08 | 1:16 PM ET
this is really a simple problem to solve all you need is a pair of flood gates and a pump like on the Panama Canal.
Kow 10.30.08 | 10:42 PM ET
Here it is, plain and simple. I’m willing to bet that 90% of the people saying “save the planet” drive gas guzzling monsters, don’t know what recycling is, and when asked, couldn’t tell you what the three R’s are. don’t talk about it people, BE about it! Oh, and save Venice!
keneddy 04.17.12 | 5:31 AM ET
leas
keneddy 04.17.12 | 5:33 AM ET
leats
keneddy 04.17.12 | 5:36 AM ET
Don’t know whether you like leathags
punguta 06.13.12 | 6:03 PM ET
I enjoy travelling all around the world. I am now at an hotel in Greensboro, visiting the antique Greensboro Coliseum. I had the opportunity to be in Venice last year and I saw the damages made the tides. Something must be done soon to save the beautiful Venice from destruction.
spencerid 07.14.12 | 9:56 AM ET
This project protects the buildings of Venice. While a huge amount of tourists visit the lagoon, the water infiltrates in building foundations and destroys them. Fixing this problem improves traffic issues and decreases flooding risks of local hotels...