University of Virginia · Fall 2026 · Charlottesville + Venice, Italy
Venice
Program
A semester-long program exploring the Venice Lagoon through landscape architecture, architecture, and art history. Four courses, six faculty, and a seven-week residency in the lagoon.
Charlottesville
Aug 25 – Sep 17
4 weeks
Italy Residency
Sep 19 – Nov 6
7 weeks
Charlottesville
Nov 10 – Dec 8
5 weeks
ALAR 8010 / 4010 · Research Studio
Productive Landscapes of the Lagoon
Bradley Cantrell, William Sherman, Sandro Bisa
Tue + Thu · 12:30–5:00 PM
A research studio examining the northern Venice Lagoon as a productive landscape, exploring the design space between infrastructure and ecological process in a territory shaped by centuries of sediment choreography.
ALAR 5403 · Seminar
City & Landscape · Fieldwork
Bradley Cantrell
Tue · 9:00–11:30 AM
Fieldwork as a design method. Students measure, draw, photograph, and scan the lagoon, work in metric, and carry the field record into Rhino and into design. The territory read from within, so that it can be designed for.
ALAR 5203 · Seminar
Building Venice
William Sherman
Fri · 9:00–11:30 AM
An investigation of Venetian architecture as territorial practice, examining how the city's buildings, public spaces, and construction techniques emerged from and respond to the lagoon's particular environmental conditions.
ARH 5201 · Seminar
Art and Architecture of Venice
Monica Shenouda
Wed · 9:00–11:30 AM
A survey of Venetian art and architecture from its Byzantine origins through the modern era, read through the city's buildings, paintings, mosaics, and public spaces as primary texts.
Aug 25 – Classes begin in Charlottesville
Sep 7 – Labor Day (no classes)
Sep 15 – Research Studio Module 01 Review
Sep 19 – Depart for Italy
Sep 19 – Nov 6 – Italy residency (Vicenza, Venice Lagoon)
Oct 12–13 – Fall Break
Nov 2–4 – Studio Module 02 Review (Vicenza workshop)
Nov 6 – Return to Charlottesville
Nov 26 – Thanksgiving Break
Dec 8 – Last day of classes
Dec 14–15 – Final Review (date to be confirmed)
Bradley Cantrell
Commonwealth Professor of Landscape Architecture
Program Coordinator
William Sherman
Valmarana Professor of Architecture
Sandro Bisa
Visiting Faculty
Architect, Venissa vineyard
Monica Shenouda
Lecturer in Architecture