Its seventh edition VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 takes place on May 23rd and 24th on the island of San Servolo, a few minutes by vaporetto from Venice’s main public square, San Marco. The seat of 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 mental hospital, and now a cultural, academic and conference center owned and managed by the Metropolitan City of Venice 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 the process of cultural and physical regeneration of San Servolo, contributing to the transformation of hospitality spaces, interior spaces, communal spaces and connection spaces.
VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 © San Servolo
VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 © San Servolo
VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 © San Servolo
VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 © San Servolo
VID – Venice Innovation Design 2026 © San Servolo
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, infrastructure and ways of living in the city. In San Servolowater surrounds the island, connects it to the city and defines its relationship with the lagoon. Within VID, it becomes a lens to discuss design in specific terms: resource management, quality of public space, environmental fragility, ecosystem care and urban life.
The program addresses these issues starting with tangible issues. Giulio Lo Iacono, its Secretary General 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 by Technical University of Milan will focus on reusing rainwater to irrigate the island’s park. Water thus becomes a material to be understood, collected, managed and reintegrated into a daily balance.
The reflection extends to the landscape and the experience of places. Landscape architect and writer Antonio Perazzi will talk about the garden as a mediator between ecology and landscape. Urban sociologist Giampaolo Nuvolati will shift the focus from objects to experience, examining how people inhabit, perceive and share spaces. Here, design emerges as a practice capable of influencing quality of life, including through small, meaningful interventions that are often taken for granted.
AI, infrastructure and sustainable innovation in San Servolo
The second day will open a discussion on innovation, sustainability and artificial intelligence, with Antonella Andriani, Vice President ADI – Association of Industrial Design; Paolo Fantoni, Vice President of FederlegnoArredo. and Maurizio Sobrero, Director of the Entrepreneurship Research Center at United Arab Emirates University. Technology enters the program as part of a wider reflection on design responsibility, its relationship with industry and the transformation of design processes. A contribution from marionanni, light designer and founder Marion Schoolit 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, the VID has accompanied interventions on the island: the new reception area, the hostels, the cafe, the “study wall” of D-Segno, the renovation of the rooms in the Palazzina Scirocco by Pianca and, in 2025, the opening of Un Fiore a San Servoloter designed by Mario Cucinella. Built on site using 3D printing and sustainable materials, it consists of approximately 750 modular blocks divided into 62 types. In 2026, the program will also include a visit to the recently renovated rooms of the Palazzina Zefiro, which were renovated by Luciano Marson, its founder Piecesmall of Venice.
The transformation of the island also goes through environmental infrastructure. San Servolo is working towards energy self-sufficiency through new lighting systems, electric charging infrastructure and photovoltaic installations in shelters, gazebos, selected roofs and walkways. The project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2026, is described in the materials as one of the first photovoltaic interventions in the historic center of Venice.
Making innovation tangible
through the water, AT 2026 shows how design can bring complex issues closer to everyday life: a park that is watered smarter, a public toilet designed with dignity, a center dedicated to ocean culture, an island that experiments with new forms of energy and connection. This is where innovation becomes specific, legible and narrow.
