The Fifth Siren

On the 13th of November 2019 an exceptionally high tide hits Venice, creating damage the city has not seen before. People’s homes and shops are destroyed, the power cuts off and the city plunges into a dark, desperate night, trying to rescue what it can. Could this have been foreseen? Are weather anomalies really an exception, or perhaps just something that’s going to happen more and more often? As the world stands watching, we wonder: is this only a cautionary tale for Venice, or for the world?

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Venice is a “Shroedinger cat of a city”, full of possibilities. But it wears many disguises, disclosing only what it wants. For this very reason people are lured by its charm. Yet this human and urban archipelago that defies representation is also the most copied city in the world... Can its historical and cultural complexity survive the fate of becoming a playground for tourists?

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Faced with threats of ever growing intensity, the only route for survival is change. In what way should the city transform? Is technology the modern divinity to ensure the future life of the city?

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Throughout its environmental history, Venice has always struggled to find a balance between the city’s economic needs and the lagoon’s delicate ecosystem. Now that this relationship has been ever more compromised, is it still possible to define a balance for the city to come?

Visit thefifthsiren.com for full transcript and episode notes.