The story (with a happy ending) of “Un Fiore a San Servolo” has a prelude that took place during the last edition of VID – Venice Innovation Design in October 2024, when Mario Cucinella proposed to build a small amphitheater on the island facing San Marco. This lagoon site, rich in history, tranquility, and culture, currently hosts the Venice International University, the Neuroscience School of Advanced Studies, and the Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, in addition to a hospitality and conference center that organizes over 130 international events annually. Accepted by the Metropolitan City of Venice and the in-house company San Servolo srl, the proposal was completed by MCA Mario Cucinella Architects in just a few months and inaugurated on May 23, 2025.
The plot of this design story begins with a concept, born within the architectural and natural context, that envisions a place for contemplation, connection, and sharing. It’s a scenic space with the visual backdrop of San Lazzaro degli Armeni Island, an amphitheater shaped like a flower corolla. It continues with the design of a botanically inspired ‘formation’, modular and irregular, that ‘blossoms’ on the ground in a large open space, serving as the visual cornerstone of a long prospective viewpoint over the Lagoon and a space for meeting and dialogue. It concludes with the construction of a self-supporting structure composed of approximately 750 modular blocks, of 62 different types, produced using a 3D printing process from a certified sustainable material based on natural lime and assembled by interlocking.
To minimize the environmental impact related to transport and to ensure the high quality of the elements, production took place on-site thanks to a printer that operated for almost 200 hours, provided by Erratic along with crucial technical know-how. The assembly was done dry to make the entire work easily dismountable and reversible. Supporting the project, a team of companies—7Solutions, Abet Laminati, Erre Costruzioni, Global Power Service, Infinityhub, Kubee, and Pieces of Venice—provided solutions, services, products, and resources.
“Un Fiore a San Servolo” is the latest of numerous sustainable redevelopment interventions on an island that continues to transform. Originally a convent, then a military hospital with an attached historical pharmacy, and later a psychiatric asylum, in the 2000s the San Servolo conference and cultural center redeveloped many of its structures, from the new reception to the Auditorium Hall, from the cafeteria to the Study and Residence Center facilities, up to the creation of new rooms and other event spaces. The island is also equipped with one of the first photovoltaic installations in the historic city of Venice, with solar panels covering about 30% of the island’s energy needs.
