When you get off the ferry at Lido di Venezia and walk along the beautiful tree-lined avenue lined with blooming Art Nouveau villas, you are transported into the elegant seaside atmosphere of the early twentieth century. Here, at the peak of the Belle époque, the first seaside establishments, hotels and amusement parlours sprang up, attracting the finest of the European aristocracy and bourgeoisie, making the Lido one of the most famous tourist destinations of the time.
Characterising the seascape were the well-known, self-exotic huts that dotted the entire Lido beach, immortalised even in the atmospheres described by Thomas Mann in Death and Venice, filmed precisely at the Hotel Des Bains. Even today, the beach hut is a typical element of the Lido landscape and part of the local culture: the hut, often rented by several families or among friends, is an original and lively form of sharing for Venetians, while for the more curious tourists it is an original way of experiencing the Venetian beach.
Designers on show:
Lin Fanglu for Objective Gallery, Ludovica+Roberto Palomba for Purho, Polymorf, Roberto Sironi for Carwan Gallery, Studio Eidola
Des Bains 1900 Luxury Beach Club, Lungomare Guglielmo Marconi 16, Venice Lido
Open everyday from June 1 to June 18, 11am-7pm
Free admittance