The history of Venice is rooted in the maritime. How do we know about this history when few if any ships survive from antiquity? Nautical archeology studies the history of shipbuilding, ships, and the interactions between cultures and water environments through artifacts, maps, and documents - surveying and excavating, and analyzing artifacts, building on historical knowledge, and creating experimental hypotheses to attempt to recover lost knowledge of shipbuilding and use. Approaching the Galeazze dell’ Arsenale as a site deeply rooted in the venetian shipbuilding history from the 16th to the 20th century, the project adapts the ruin through a series of volumes into a research center for nautical archeology practice from accessioning and desalination of heavy, wet artifacts to long term small finds storage and full scale replication. A curatorial program is introduced through additional hulls in wood adjacent to and connecting with the research volumes to create relationships for the public between the existing site and building walls, and the research sequence operating within the building providing a greater understanding work of nautical archeologists & the application of that work on the maritime history of Venice.
