Seeds, Brains, and Bridges: Allegory of Venice, Arts, and Science for a Vision of the Future

What could the Venice of the future look like? A project for an ideal city can take off from an allegory: arts and sciences inside a seed of Lodoicea maldivica, whose bipartition reminds us of a human brain. From the seeds left by the past, we derive the vision of the future. The ideal city certainly needs brains able to conceptualize images and develop ideas, and bridges to strengthen connections and in- teractions. A well-working brain needs “bridges” as connections between ideas and techniques. My vision for a future city contains a livable and stimulating space enhancing at one time creativity, enthusiasm, and scientific development. To this aim, I use the image and the metaphor of cerebral hemispheres, specialized in activities of different typologies yet interconnected. The image of the brain is one of the symbols of cognition. The right hemisphere deals with artistic expression, while the left hemisphere refers to logic thinking, mathematics, scientific attitude toward the world. Different cerebral areas, which contribute to the complex and rich life of an individual, are a metaphor for different places in a city, contributing to the completeness of a community life. Separation between hemispheres, also as a homage to Venice, is seen as a sort of Canal Grande, and connections are represented by bridges. The whole brain is seen as a giant seed of Lodoicea maldivica: the city of the future needs to develop from seeds, that is, knowledge inherited from the past and new ideas from our minds and thoughts. Thoughts that, in turn, are fed upon the Science of Complexity.