Venice Biennale 2025: Visitors Will Get To Taste Coffee Made With Canal Water

Tucked at the back of the Arsenale, this experimental café at the Venice Architecture Biennale serves espresso made with water drawn straight from the city’s canals, offering visitors the chance to literally taste a distinct ‘local flavour’ of Venice. The setup is installed outdoors, with clear pipes pulling water directly from the Arsenale Lagoon and splitting it into two streams: one treated via reverse osmosis and ultraviolet disinfection, the other purified biologically through a ‘micro-wetland’ of salt-tolerant plants, before the streams are rejoined. Michelin-starred chef Davide Oldani will taste and adjust this water blend to create a uniquely Venetian profile and select the coffee blend to ‘deliver the most authentically Venetian taste’. Conceived by New York-based design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the project is described as being about combining the pleasure of drinking beautiful espresso with reflection on the complexity required to secure potable water, with co-founder Elizabeth Diller even vowing to drink the first cup herself and be the guinea pig. - Liv Kelly