Course description

The course observes global trends related to the promotion of heritage and its role in the process of brandization of the territory, and applies them to the Venice lagoon. The course will use the observation of some case studies and the deconstruction of marketing images. Through an interdisciplinary approach, the aim is to identify the rhetorics and codes that articulate the current representation of Venice, and to recognise this tendency within broader processes of globalisation.

Among the most interesting global dynamics is currently the inclusion of cultural, legacy and historical notions within regenerative processes and territorial promotion. Heritage, in particular, is one of the dominant rhetorics on which the sense and legitimacy of many redevelopment and regeneration operations are built.

Heritage has long been used within territorial promotion rhetorics concerning Venice, which describe its value in relation to history, and which support investments and consumption linked to the experience of typicality. The observation of the Venetian lagoon offers, in this regard, a privileged space of investigation that allows us to examine the changing trends linked to patrimonialisation and the (narrative and financial) speculation to which they are subjected.

Course objectives
- To introduce students to the increasing global use of notions of heritage, tradition, memory to support the transformation of places
- To introduce students to the flexible use of heritage in the Venice context as an outpost of global trends
- To introduce students to the reading of marketing rhetorics used in the current promotion of the Venice lagoon so to understands international principles of brandization

The course is divided into 3 modules:

Module I - Observation of the global trend towards heritage branding and the use of heritage as leverage capable of increasing the value of places. This module explores some exemplary cases in global cities in the East and West of the world, identifying striking similarities in the intentions of heritage marketing.

Module II- Observation of current trends in Venice and the lagoon area. This module evaluates the increasing centrality of landscape-related heritage. Lately, the marketing of typicality in the lagoon area has been undergoing a mutation and seems to be moving from the historical city to the context: it takes on naturalistic connotations, increasingly linked to the arcadian dimension of the landscape. The more the environment is under the spotlight of change, the scarcer resources become, the more valuable they become. Not only for those actors who aim to drive sustainable change, but also for those extractive forces who, having identified a resource, intercept its potential.

Module III- Choice of a case study in the Lagoon of Venice. Analysis of urban marketing materials and recurring rhetorics related to the concept of heritage and typicality. This module reflects on the imaginaries and codes used to promote the territory. If in Romanticism the dominant image of Venice was that of the solid dying city, now the historic centre becomes the starting point from which to experience a fluid, ecosystemic lagoon, in a renewed idea of endangered heritage. Images are not only descriptive, but actively construct a project of territory that can increase the appreciation of places and create a sense of legitimacy even for more speculative operations.

Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to:
_read the use of notions related to heritage, memory, tradition within a broader global trend related to territorial regeneration and promotion;
_identify the changing conception of heritage in relation to the Venice lagoon;
_identify the most relevant rhetoric used in territorial marketing linked to heritage;
_be able to critically analyse the basic economic and political dynamics that use heritage as a financial levy;
_apply the theoretical knowledge acquired during the course to the analysis of existing global city projects when notions of heritage are recalled.

Teaching and evaluation methods
The course will be organized as follows:
1) Frontal lectures (on concepts, theories and approaches relevant for understanding the issues and dynamics related to the use of heritage in territorial marketing);
2) Seminar discussions guided directly by students in order to stimulate learning by allowing students to formulate and exchange their views on selected issues. (i.e. regarding proposed papers or ad hoc short assignments);
3) Excursions in the Venice lagoon to observe and approach representative case studies.
4) In itinere tutoring of group-works.

The course will consist of three evaluations which will take place during the course:
1) mid-term evaluation based on the elaboration of materials and observations from Module I and II (30%)
2) final evaluation: elaboration of materials and observations from Module III.
This will be composed by: the presentation of the group works (percentage of the overall grade = 35%) + the submission of an individual short paper (percentage of the overall grade = 20%).

In addition, a 15% of the overall grade will be attributed according to these criteria: class attendance, participation and interaction, submission of the required assignments.

Bibliography: a selection
Chandler, A. and Pace, M (2021) The Production of Heritage, London: Routledge. Brett, D. (1996) The Construction of Heritage, Cork: Cork University Press.
Brown, A. (2013). ‘The Spinning Index: Architectural Images and the Reversal of Causality’, in Rubinstein, D., Golding, J., Fisher A. (eds.), On the Verge of Photography, Birmingham: ARTicle Press, pp. 237-258. Graham B.J., Howards P. (eds.) (2008), The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity, Ashgate Publishing, Franham.
Harvey D.C. (2001), “Heritage Pasts and Heritage Presents: Temporality, Meaning and the Scope of Heritage Studies”, International Journal of Heritage Studies, no.7, vol.4, pp: 319-338.
Huyssen A. (2003), Present Pasts. Urban Palimpsests and the Politics of Memory, Stanford University Press.
Klingmann, A. (2007) Brandscapes. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Marini, S. (ed.) (2017) Orchestra Rehearsal, Bruno, Venezia.
Rancière, J. (2008) The Emancipated Spectator. Translated by Gregory Elliott, London: Verso, 2009. Sassen, S. (2017) ‘Predatory Formations Dressed in Wall Street Suits and Algorithmic Math’, Science, Technology & Society, 22:1, pp. 1–15, Los Angeles: SAGE Publication
Smith L. (2006), Uses of Heritage, Routledge, London.
Zizek, S. (2008) First As Tragedy, Then As Farce, London: Verso.
Zukin, S. (2008) Naked City. The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places, New York: Oxford University Press.

Last updated: February 29, 2024