Canal Café by Diller Scofidio + Renfro at the 2025 Venice Biennale – Photo by Iwaan Baan.
Architecture. As you make your way toward the Arsenale Lagoon, something unexpected catches your eye—a curious structure by the dock and a line of people waiting. Welcome to Canal Café, a one-of-a-kind, eco-friendly project that does more than just serve coffee. This clever hybrid machine filters sludge from the lagoon, purifies the water, and transforms it into potable water—just what you need for a truly memorable espresso. We can’t officially say it’s the best in town, but it’s definitely up there!
- RELATED STORIES: Read more about the Venice Biennale 2025 on Archipanic.
Photo by Iwaan Baan.
Canal Café is the brainchild of a collaborative effort led by the innovative design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro, working alongside a multidisciplinary team that includes the US-based water systems engineering firm Natural Systems Utilities, the Italian-based environmental engineering and water engineering company Sodai, architecture critic Aaron Betsky, and Michelin-starred chef Davide Oldani.
“The canals and lagoon have always been a source of Venice’s beauty and wealth,” Diller Scofidio + Renfro explains, “but they also bring with them real concerns—like pollution and flooding—especially now with the pressures of climate change and mass tourism.” Canal Café dives beneath Venice’s postcard-perfect surface and gives it a twist: turning murky canal water into a comforting cup of espresso.
Photo by Iwaan Baan.
Here’s how it works: the café’s purification system mimics and speeds up the natural cleansing powers of wetlands. A clear pipe draws in water from the lagoon, which then flows through a bio-filtration system that removes sludge and harmful substances. From there, the water splits into two paths. One travels through a “micro-wetland,” where salt-loving plants help purify it while keeping essential minerals.
The other undergoes high-tech treatment—reverse osmosis and UV light—to create crystal-clear distilled water. These two streams are then reunited, heated into steam, and pushed through coffee grounds. The result? Espresso made with lagoon water! And any leftover purified water is used to nourish a nearby landscape installation.
Photo by Marco Zorzanello.
The project was honoured with the Golden Lion for Best National Participation at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The jury praised it as “a demonstration of how the city of Venice can serve as a living lab for imagining life on water, while also offering something meaningful to its public spaces.”
[su_image_carousel source=”media: 44159,44158″ limit=”0″ slides_style=”minimal” crop=”none” columns=”2″ spacing=”no” captions=”yes” dots=”no” autoplay=”1″ speed=”immediate”]
Photos by Iwaan Baan and Marco Zorzanello.
Photo by Marco Zorzanello.
