Working together as a joint architectural and urban design studio, twenty six students from the three UNSW disciplines of architecture, built architecture and interior architecture, a group of twelve Italian students from the host University, IUAV of Venice, and three visiting students from the Future University of Khartoum (Sudan), were engaged in a critical discourse on contemporary problems of the built environment, grounded in the culture of Venice. The site and project brief was to explore the currently un-renovated "Gas Area" in the neighbourhood of Santa Marta, located in the west part of the historic centre of Venice, and its potential as a new gateway for the city.