Canal Café at the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2025: Espresso from the Lagoon
Project
“The idea is to bring a complex environmental issue — water quality — into the simplest acts of our everyday life: the morning espresso” – Carlo Ratti, Director of the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2025
As part of the 2025 Venice Biennale of Architecture, the Canal Café invites visitors to enjoy an espresso made from purified canal water. The project poetically and provocatively challenges our relationship with natural resources and urban infrastructure in the age of climate change. A transparent pipe draws water from the lagoon and channels it into a hybrid purification system that combines natural and technological processes. The result is potable water – freshly brewed into espresso.
Project data
Architect Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Collaborators Aaron Betsky (Collaborating Curator), Natural Systems Utilities and Sodai (Water System Design and Operation), Nijhuis Saur Industries (Water system design support), Tillotson Design Associates (Lighting Design)
Finalization 2025
Services structural engineering
