At San Servolo, design begins with water
Taking place on 23–24 May on the island of San Servolo, Venice Innovation Design 2026 uses water as a lens to read public space, sustainability, urban care and the future of design.
The seventh edition of VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 takes place on 23 and 24 May on the island of San Servolo, a few minutes by vaporetto from the principal public square of Venice, St Mark’s. Home to VID since its first edition, the island is one of those Venetian places where history can be read in layers: a Benedictine monastery, then the city’s psychiatric hospital, and now a cultural, academic and conference centre owned by the Metropolitan City of Venice and managed by San Servolo srl.
The event brings together architects, designers, entrepreneurs, academics, innovators, institutional representatives and communication professionals for two days of talks, round tables, presentations and visits. Its value also lies in its relationship with the island that hosts it: over the years, VID has accompanied San Servolo’s process of cultural and physical regeneration, contributing to the transformation of hospitality spaces, interiors, public areas and places of connection.
Gallery
Open full width
Open full width
VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026:
Water as a design framework
For 2026, the central theme is water. In Venice, it is a daily presence, a condition that shapes the landscape, habits, infrastructures and ways of inhabiting the city. In San Servolo, water surrounds the island, connects it to the city and defines its relationship with the lagoon. Within VID, it becomes a lens for discussing design in concrete terms: resource management, the quality of public space, environmental fragility, ecosystem care and urban life.
The programme addresses these themes by starting from tangible issues. Giulio Lo Iacono, Secretary General of ASviS, will discuss water in relation to SDG 6 of the 2030 Agenda, dedicated to clean water and sanitation. Studies by Gaetano Cascini and Niccolò Becattini from Politecnico di Milano will focus on the reuse of rainwater to irrigate the island’s park. Water thus becomes a material to be understood, collected, managed and reintegrated into an everyday balance.
The reflection extends to landscape and the experience of places. Landscape architect and writer Antonio Perazzi will speak about the garden as a mediator between ecology and landscape. Urban sociologist Giampaolo Nuvolati will shift the focus from objects to experience, looking at how people inhabit, perceive and share spaces. Here, design emerges as a practice capable of influencing quality of life, including through small, essential interventions that are often taken for granted.
AI, infrastructure and sustainable innovation at San Servolo
The second day will open a discussion on innovation, sustainability and artificial intelligence, with Antonella Andriani, Vice President of ADI – the Association for Industrial Design; Paolo Fantoni, Vice President of FederlegnoArredo; and Maurizio Sobrero, Director of the Entrepreneurship Research Center at the United Arab Emirates University. Technology enters the programme as part of a broader reflection on design responsibility, its relationship with industry and the transformation of design processes. A contribution by marionanni, light designer and founder of marionannischolé, also introduces light as a language capable of reading and shaping space.
The connection between ideas and concrete transformation is one of the keys to San Servolo. Since its first edition in 2018, VID has accompanied interventions on the island: the new reception area, guest rooms, café, the “study wall” by D-Segno, the renovation of the rooms in Palazzina Scirocco by Pianca and, in 2025, the inauguration of Un Fiore a San Servolo, the amphitheatre designed by Mario Cucinella. Built on site using 3D printing and sustainable materials, it is composed of around 750 modular blocks divided into 62 types. In 2026, the programme will also include a visit to the newly renovated rooms of Palazzina Zefiro, restored by Luciano Marson, founder of Pieces of Venice.
The island’s transformation also passes through environmental infrastructure. San Servolo is working toward energy self-sufficiency through new lighting systems, electric charging infrastructure and photovoltaic installations on shelters, gazebos, selected roofs and pedestrian walkways. Scheduled for completion by 2026, the project is described in the materials as one of the first photovoltaic interventions in Venice’s historic centre.
Making innovation tangible
Through water, VID 2026 shows how design can bring complex themes closer to everyday life: a park irrigated more intelligently, a public toilet conceived with dignity, a centre dedicated to ocean culture, an island experimenting with new forms of energy and connection. This is where innovation becomes concrete, legible and close.
