1 e 2 – We all know that water is the source of life in every culture, in art, in every religion. But in our time, the rapidity of growth, the weight of modern settlement, the widespread poverty all imposes everywhere an interdisciplinary, intercultural scientific study on the problems of obtaining and using water. A study that will have the value of a formidable instrument of peace among all human communities. 3 -The task we have set ourselves is to design a new model of Research Center and active residence for scholars from all over the world. A ‘home of water research’ to be carried out wherever necessary on our planet. So here is his name. An ancient name: the School of water. In Latin, that is still the symbolic language of all seekers of knowledge, this name sounds like this: StudiumAquae in English WaterStudium. 4 – Naturally, the functional spaces, the common services and residences (rooms and apartments) will follow the specific requests of the institutions that want to create it. For now, our hypothesis, which considers the best examples comparable with our aim, envisages around 400 beds, 4500 m2 of functional spaces and common services, the same number of green spaces and large solar energy collection surfaces (min Approximately 2,000 m2) integrated into the architecture. 5 – But architecture also has symbolic tasks: the never-quenched thirst for knowledge – represented by the ascension towards the light – is present in the project in the proportioning of the architectural volumes intended for research. It follows the rules of the golden spiral, the same one that mysteriously guides the three-dimensional growth of wonderful natural organisms and which, in history, has been adopted by the most famous representations of the Tower of Babel and of the ascént to Earthly paradise and realized with the spiral of the oldest minarets, including the very eloquent one in Samarra. 6 – The golden spiral, therefore, seemed to us to be the geometric matrix that with greater symbolic fullness could preside over the composition in space of the spaces of research and work, organizing them as a ladder ascending towards the sky, while the residences of researchers are arranged around it with simplicity. At the peak of our architectural spiral we decided to place a luminous symbolic object that we called the Lamp of Wisdom, an armillary sphere inspired by the seven radiant heavens of the Bible, of the Muhammad’s Ladder and of the nine circles of the Blessed. Around the common and research spaces the Research Center comes to life and its collective internal spaces are formed. The residential part mostly includes small apartments to encourage collaboration and friendship, in addition to the more traditional one or two beds rooms. The roofs, but also, the vertical glass walls, can be used to capture solar energy using the most up-to-date construction systems. 7 – Naturally, the project was conceived as a “formally scalable” project, i.e. adaptable to different types of lots; from the most comfortable – which in our case could measure around one hectare – to the most typically urban of around 2,000 m2, as can happen in modern and ancient cities in every part of the world while maintaining all the functions, the optimal dimensions for each function and the symbolic and aesthetic meanings chosen by us. 8 – In the open spaces of our WaterStudium, as in every garden, the allegorical model of Paradise will have to live. because in every idea of Paradise Water, however, is the essence of everything; of the greenery, of the woods, of the flowers, of the fruits, of the blissful life that every garden, even a modern one, seems to promise. Thus, the WaterStudium garden will be crossed by a fresh stream and enriched with pools of water; by a small forest and flower gardens; the main entrance to the Research Center will be from the garden. Thus, to reach our Center you will cross the fragrant forest with free paths and to enter the spaces of research and life you will have to cross the fresh stream, as always in paradises to reach knowledge. 9 – At this point we can imagine the play of natural lights, reflections and water that our WaterStudium wants to be surrounded by, accompanied by Brahms’ Academic Overture – music written for those who work for knowledge and for the whole humanity. 10 – Naturally there are some places in the world that seem destined by nature and history to be the most appropriate location for the creation of a StudiumAcque or WaterStudium in English if you prefer; many can be included, from the Jordan to the Ganges, from the Amazon River to the Yangtze, to the Congo, to the Mississippi. But for us Italians, Venice is the perfect place to choose to create a StudiumAquae. We examined three places, the first on the island of Giudecca, the second near the Biennale, the third, which seemed to us the most suitable, overlooking the Giudecca canal. Today it is a docking place for transatlantic liners which in the future will be prohibited. It is a place where there are port facilities, but very close to a complex of buildings already dedicated to research and study. Furthermore, there is a small memorial to Vivaldi, the great Venetian musician. Our idea is to create a StudiumAquae or WaterStudium in place of the docking of large ships, also connecting our Research Center to the existing research institutions. And even Vivaldi’s memorial could be hosted in our gardens. Thus, accompanied by Vivaldi, we can finally imagine our StudiumAquae reflected in the waters; the waters of Venice.

4 JUNE 2024, Lucio Valerio Barbera