Joana Rafael is an architect and researcher working on ecological issues related to pollution and contamination in buildings and territories, with a particular interest in the material conditions of construction and environmental contamination. Her research investigates the materiality and limits of physical infrastructures in relation to Earth systems, as well as human–nature relations mediated by dynamics of human impact, with particular attention to radiological contamination. In parallel, she develops a practice of collaboration with artists, research and writing, as well as consultancy on projects in the fields of architecture, art, and ecology. Joana has taught courses related to Contemporary Culture at institutions including ESAP, ISCE Douro, Central Saint Martins, and the University for the Creative Arts. She is a member of CEGOT and CEAA, and co-founder of REFINERY BOARD. Joana holds a Master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Culture from Metropolis, as well as a Master’s in Research Architecture and a PhD in Visual Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London. She also obtained a specialization certificate in Healthier Materials and Sustainable Construction from Parsons School of Design. She is currently completing a Master’s in Visual Arts Education. Alongside her academic work, Joana is a farmer.
Xpedizione 2025 Meeting
OPENING A PATH
Towards a land that blooms without human witnesses
Research expedition organized with
Marion Nielsen (EnsadLab-PSL, Paris), Laura Imbriani & Fabrizio Lampis (Supercake Architecture and Design, Milan)
Date: 19-22/11/2025
Call for participants:
We are archivists of oblivion, hunters of lost stories, and guardians of silent landscapes.
In the Venetian Lagoon, on the island of Sant’Erasmo, we set out to encounter a 24-hectare territory that has been breathing for 34 years without the rhythm of human time—since 1990, when the last human hands abandoned it.
This territory, seemingly forgotten today, still holds traces of human ingenuity: a network of canals—le peschiere—once dedicated to aquaculture, now silent, yet still in dialogue with the surrounding lagoon.
What do these lands hold?
Wild flora? Fragments of other lives? Or perhaps something we don’t yet have a name for?
What transformations have occurred here?
What signs of its biodiversity—past and present—await us?
Among shores and canals, will we encounter the ghosts of its history?
This year marks the first of four major annual expeditions—and we want to invite you to be part of this crossing.
We promise no answers.
We offer a place where questions grow alongside the weeds.
This is a place of immense potential: a natural laboratory for scientists, artists, architects, ecologists, thinkers, and dreamers from all fields.
We come from different geographies—Porto, Paris, Milan, and other corners of Europe—intending to unearth forgotten stories, document the life that persists among the canals, create a living archive of this land, and reimagine our relationship to this landscape.
It will be a field experience, yes, but also an exercise in listening, sharing, and renewing our imaginations.
We will learn from the land—and from one another.
Location
Via dei Forti, Sant’Erasmo, Venice
30–50 minutes from Fondamente Nove (Venice) by vaporetto line 13, stop: Chiesa or Punta Vela (Sant’Erasmo).
Free participation, upon registration via a letter of intent.
Email: xpedizione@gmail.com for more information.
Programme attached.
