A Room with a View, Andrew Alberts, Ludovico Centis, Albrecht Kastein, Oda Pälmke and Verena von Beckerath

A Room with a View takes place in and around the Pensione Seguso, a historic, family-run hotel in Venice. Guided by architecture professor Verena von Beckerath, the contributions to this edition range from the historical to the anecdotal to the artistic and beyond, resulting in a holistic and comprehensive analysis of not only the pensione, but what hospitality and tourism mean today, both in Venice and the world at large. The contributors to this publication come from varying backgrounds, and the rich variety in tone and format reflects that.

A Room with a View features a reflection and collage by urologist and art fanatic Albrecht Kastein, photos by architect and photographer Andrew Alberts, architect Oda Pälmke’s personal account of her time at the pensione, an insightful interview with the owners Yvonne Matijas Seguso and Lawrence Hoque, and architect, professor and editor Ludovico Centis’s historical account of Venice.

Much like the pensione, the book eludes rigid categorisation; it alternates between written pieces and photographs, each adding nuance to the work and changing the narrative perspective. As you wander through the pensione during the course of this edition, meeting the owners and venturing into the history of Venice, one question continuously arises, how can we live together?