The beachside town of Lido di Jesolo consists of a network of streets running parallel to the coastline. As the town has grown over the years, the streets have extended and now stretch for miles. As you move inland, this strict pattern of parallel roads is interrupted by road junctions, industrial areas, and new residential subdivisions.

At the point where the major roads from the north meet the town’s road network, creating an important traffic junction, a large development has been built that includes retail premises, tourist attractions, and residential complexes. On this large, triangular site, which seems to point north from the sea, the local government is establishing Jesolo’s new natural history museum, the JMUSE, designed by Studio Architetti Mar. The triangle is an icon of Giovanna Mar’s design.

Triangles in every detail

Occurring at both the urban level and as the shape of the lot, the triangle has been used as the generating matrix of every detail of the design, from the shape of the volumes to the composition of the façade. The footprint of the building is likewise triangular, but broken up into separate elements. This creates a series of triangular fractures and views through the building itself, which have the effect of creating appealing, balanced proportions between its height and width.

This fragmentation of the volumes also emphasizes the building’s verticality, highlighting the fractures between one element and the next. The floorplan likewise creates a vertical tension. The entrance is located within a very thin fracture, which seems to compress the space, only to open into a large lobby, illuminated from above by a rooflight. After this narrow passage, therefore, visitors are welcomed into a large, bright space where, in addition to the light from above, two lateral openings provide further light and help maintain a relationship with the exterior.

The use of light as a design element is reflected in the use of black and white inside the museum spaces. In the central gallery, for example, all the vertical surfaces able to reflect light are painted white, while the horizontal ones are black to create a chiaroscuro effect with the natural light.

Beginning at this gallery, a long ramp winds its way around the empty space, providing access to the five levels of the museum and to the large panoramic terrace, from where you can view the sea, Venice, and Jesolo.

>>> Read an extract from the article published in THE PLAN 126 on the University of Padua’s humanities department.

Symbolism beyond geometry

The triangle is also an element of the façade, conceived as a metal surface that brings a uniformity to the volumes of the museum. Numerous perforations in the sheet metal creates countless scalene triangles in shades of gray. The triangle abandons its perfection and stability, evoking a more irregular, lighter, and more playful symbolism – the fun and lightness of summer in Jesolo.

>>> Discover Podium, a cantilevered residential complex in Jesolo with low environmental impact.

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