Designing with Rights
Translating the Rights of Nature into Spatial Practice in the Venice Lagoon
Abstract
The Venice Lagoon faces growing environmental degradation and socio-cultural erosion, while existing protection frameworks remain insufficient. This article examines the recognition of the Lagoon as a rights-bearing subject and explores how this recognition can be translated into spatial practice. Through a design-led methodology, existing practices and the Lagoon’s key elements are assessed using a socio-ecological compatibility matrix informed by the rights of nature. Three territorial use modes are then addressed through the design principles of expand, transform and replace, testing how spatial practice can link legal recognition and territorial change.
Submitted: Feb. 7, 2026 | Accepted: May 24, 2026 | Published Aug. 6, 2026 | Language: en
Keywords Socio-ecological systems • Rights of Nature • Venice Lagoon • Spatial design • Legal personhood
Copyright © 2026 Eleonora Anghileri, Elena Longhin. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.