European historical shipyards have been transformed in many ways over the centuries. As part of the programme of activities at the Austrian Pavillion of the 18 th International Architecture Exhibitions (Biennale Archittetura), we offer a series of workshops exploring these transformations. The first will occur on the
morning of Saturday 24 June, at the facilitires of Ca’ Foscari University in San Giobbe, in Venice; two others will follow on 30 September and 4 November 2023.

The initiative is co-organized by the Universities of Bologna and Oxford, with the collaboration of a variety of institutions involved in the transformation of individual historcal shipyards and AIPAI (Associazione Italiana per il Patrimonio Archeologico Industriale).
These events are part of a larger research project on how transforming European historical shipyards and arsenals into heritage sites poses crucial issues for preservation, protection and use, with significant socio-economic impacts. Their changing uses—from production at first to other activities over time (e.g.exhibitions, shops, housing)—have detached them from their original meanings and imbued them with new indentities that somehow co-habit with the old ones, leading to tensions between preservation and innovation. Practically, this has also brought managerial challenges far subtler than generating income and managing visitor flows: sites must trade-off the different and often conflicting priorities of preservation, productivity, housing, visitor enjoyment, community engagement, urban regeneration, etc.
For this project, we have invited experts on significant shipyards and arsenals to discuss the transformation of these sites, with particular attention to increasing public access. This will provide a unique opportunity to discuss possible developments in general, and in particular for the Venice Arsenal. The schedule of the 1 st workshop is as follows:
09:00-09:30 Presentation of the overall research project: rational and goals
Luca Zan, University of Bologna & Pegram Harrison, University of Oxford
09:30-10:15 The Venice Arsenal: a recap of 40 years of debate Luca Zan, University of Bologna
10:15-11:15 Portsmouth, heritage and transformation of a historical shipyard
Karen McBride, University of Portsmouth
11:15-11:30 Coffee break
11:30-12:30 The La Spezia Arsenal. Ideas for a possible evolution Admiral Dino Nascetti
12:30-13:00 A first open discussion
Participation is open, without registration (both in person and online).
Live streaming link: https://www.youtube.com/@AIPAI_PatrimonioIndustriale
Contact person: jessica.tanghetti@unibo.it