Mexico

Chinampa Veneta comprises a set of chinampas in the Arsenale and a floating chinampa in the Venetian lagoon. With over 4,000 years of history in the Valley of Mexico, the chinampa consists of man-made, rectangular blocks of organic matter placed in shallow lakes. Their beautiful geometric placement creates water canals and multiplies the lake`s shorelines. The different sizes of canals offer ecological niches that result in an explosion of life. Every element in the system is equally important and mutually reliant: a symbiotic relationship that promotes life captures carbon, cleans water, and produces food and oxygen. The chinampa system shows us a way forward in a world on the verge of collapse. As a collective of designers, architects, landscapers, and growers from Mexico City, we found the chinampa system in Xochimilco to be an example of design that encompasses every element on the path to regeneration. It integrates water, soil, sun, and all species as design elements and accounts for their agency as living, mutually beneficial actors. We admire the chinampa’s resilience and, as creatives, envision the possibilities of designing futures where nature’s life cycles become a symbiotic part of our built environment.