SALINE – Il Palazzo di Benessere by Natalia Piórecka

SALINE by Natalia Piórecka is a salt treatment centre architecture project in Venice shaped by biodesign, daylight and wellness.

The project is useful because salt is not treated as a decorative theme. It becomes the material, environmental and cultural driver for the building.

Project visuals

The project images show how the wellness idea is developed through atmosphere, structure and material research.

Project overview

Natalia’s graduation project reimagines salt as more than a problem for construction. In Venice, salt has a historic and environmental presence, so SALINE turns it into a design asset through treatment spaces, material studies and controlled daylight.

The proposal draws on crystallisation, precipitation and salt farming, using these processes to shape programme and atmosphere. That makes the building read as a salt treatment centre rather than a generic wellness space.

How salt shapes the design

• Salt is used as a material and cultural reference, not only as branding.
• Daylight research supports the treatment and atmosphere of the spaces.
• Biodesign thinking links architecture, biology and industrial design.
• The Venice setting gives the project a stronger relationship to history, water and identity.
• Wellness is connected to spatial experience, not just a list of rooms.

Portfolio lesson

Material-led projects are strongest when the reader can see the chain of thinking: site condition, scientific research, prototype, programme and building form. SALINE has that chain, and the rewrite makes it easier to follow.

Architecture Social view

Stephen’s recruiter view is that experimental architecture is most convincing when the designer can explain the judgement behind the experiment. The software, prototypes or science should support a clear spatial outcome.

Next step

Browse more student project showcases, read the portfolio guide, submit your own project, or join the Architecture Social Club.