ABSTRACT
An insistence on greater order and clarity in layout and regularity in terms of volume also meant readapting the houses of prostitution in the area between the square and the narrow surrounding roads, and providing access to the easily controllable neighbourhood through two entrances only. The two entrances are Piazza dell'Olio, and the other in the square of the Mercato Vecchio. The Proto's project had, in fact, reorganised the land-use plan between Rialto Nuovo and the square of San Giacomo, giving form to the more than once attempted separation between the retail food market and the sale of expensive consumer goods. The new Piazza Banchi was conscious of the procedures that the Padre del Comune had employed at Strada Nuova; it relied on financial mechanisms and went through the difficult process of establishing tradeoffs with, and granting permits to, the area's property-owners. The financial mechanisms employed and the involvement of private entities were similar to what had happened in Venice.
