Venice and its lagoon are a place where the imaginary and the legends of man and water are thriving. It is a place of profound history of cohabitation and victory, where time and movement have a different definition for people than in other parts of the world. It is the urban and landscape archetype of close co-existence between the domain of inland and seaward territories. People, culture, and traditions always remembered and respected the legend of Venice and its creation, understanding the delicate boundaries and the frontiers of encounter between inland and seaward, preserving the reached balance between them and the population sustained on it. Nevertheless, it is possible to notice that at a certain moment, the urge of becoming modern prevailed on the equilibrium between the two domains. The need for civil society and a global view on what cities should be, brought distance between inland and seaward while letting people forget the legend of Venice. We could say that Venice always retaliated its own identity to itself and the rest of the world, modifying its description from maritime independent power, to artistic cradle of revolutionary ideas, to petrol-chemical industrial force, to mass-consumption product. Its definition came always from within, while now, with the approach of the climate crisis, for the first time Venice must deal with powerful externalities which are going to consequently redefine the Venetian identity from the outside. This research by design tries to remember the legend of Venice of co-existence and adaptation to its landscape, finding new possible anatomy based on the binding of Inland and seaward pressed by the climate crisis worst-case scenarios.

To achieve a circular economy in South Holland by 2050, the construction and demolition sector must use resources efficiently, close materials loops and work with fewer emissions. Currently recycling building materials is already the approach. Yet, since this costs a lot of energy and results mostly in downcycling, it is not ideal as a long term solution to achieve a durable circular economy. Adding to this, is the space limitation within the continuous growth. The usage of the existing space and infrastructure has to be optimized. This research is answering what is the best strategy to close material loops in South Holland while reusing the existing water infrastructure, amplifying it with integrated (data) networks and improving socio-spatial justice with circular hubs. The research is being executed by analysing the most efficient waterways to use in the area, defining transformation locations according to a data-driven matrix and designing the most efficient circular hub network possible. The waterways will connect circular hubs on 3 scales, a regional processing hub, a city storage & purchase hub and a flexible last mile hub. Transporting materials and goods in between the circular hubs helps in reducing CO2 emission and it can substantiate traffic on the roads. This leads to less busy highways, safer city centres and efficient use of transport. All the logistic flows and used-material flows come together in the Virtual realm, where all used-material data is accessible and a twin-region is ensuring spatial justice. Therefore the concept of Virtual X Water is the answer to define the transition towards a circular economy in 2050.

An analysis into the building densification and sustainability objectives for Haag Wonen in Robijnhorst, Mariahoeven