Canal Café draws water from the Arsenale Lagoon to create the best espresso in Italy with a distinct flavour of Venice. While the canals and lagoon are the source of the city’s historical wealth and beauty, they also elicit fears of contamination and flooding — concerns that are heightened in an era of mass tourism and climate change. Canal Café reaches beneath the photogenic surface of the city by transforming these brackish waters into the comforting scent and taste of espresso — the irreducible Italian pleasure.
Canal Café is part espresso bar, part laboratory. A hybrid natural-artificial purification system accelerates the cleansing effects of tidal wetlands, rendering canal water potable. Water is drawn from the lagoon and channeled through an “eco- machine”— a bio-filtration system that removes sludge and toxins. The water is then split into two interdependent streams: one flows through a natural membrane bioreactor, a “micro-wetland” where salt-tolerant halophytes and bacteria purify the water while retaining minerals; the other undergoes artificial filtration, reverse osmosis to remove salt, and UV disinfection. The streams are then mixed, steamed, and forced through coffee grounds to produce espresso. The espresso’s flavor was developed to balance the water composition and curated the coffee blend.
The water system is continuously monitored, tested, and maintained to ensure a consistent supply of safe, clean water. All are invited to purchase an espresso — and to drink Venice.
Participants
DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO NEW YORK, USA Elizabeth Diller, Łódź, Polonia, 1954. Lives and works in New York, USA. Ricardo Scofidio, New York, USA, 1935–2025. Lived and worked in New York, USA.
NATURAL SYSTEMS UTILITIES HILLSBOROUGH TOWNSHIP, USA Zach Gallagher, Summit, NJ, USA, 1981. Lives and works in Hillsborough Township, USA.
SODAI MILAN, ITALY Alessandro Colombo, Milan, Italy, 1967. Lives and works in Milan, Italy.
AARON BETSKY, Missoula, Montana, USA, 1958. Lives and works in Philadelphia, USA.
DAVIDE OLDANI, Milan, Italy, 1967. Lives and works in Cornaredo, Italy.
Collaborazione autoriale
Nijhuis Saur Industries (Water System Design Support), Knippers Helbig (Structural Engineering), Tillotson Design Associates (Lighting Design)
Team
Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, David Allin, Sean Gallagher, Bryce Suite, Alfred Wei; Natural Systems Utilities: Zach Gallagher, Mike Zavoda; Sodai: Gabriele Rostagno, Marzia Chiesa, Alessandro Colombo, Andrea Carotti; Nijhuis Saur Industries: Peter Scheer, Wilbert Menkveld; Knippers Helbig: Thorsten Helbig, Florian Meier; Tillotson Design Associates: Suzane Tillotson, Dagmara Nowak
Supporters
Webuild; Lavazza Group; Kartell; Indam Laboratori, Groupe Carso
