Patrice Garnier is a quantum physicist and entrepreneur working at the forefront of biotechnology, fields not commonly associated with Venice. Originally from France, he relocated to the city in 2016 with his wife, Alberta Pane, a well-known gallerist and native Venetian. While Patrice had visited Venice several times prior, it was his decision to make it their permanent home, seeing in it a unique blend of natural beauty, cultural heritage, and scientific potential. In this interview, he shares his deep appreciation for Venice’s dual identity as a city and a lagoon, how he has embraced the local way of life, and his belief that Venice has the potential to be a city of the future.
INTERVIEW BY VALERIA NECCHIO
PHOTOS BY PATRICE GARNIER & ALBERTA PANE // PORTRAITS BY VALERIA NECCHIO
VN: You are French, relocated to Venice for a few years now with your wife, Alberta Pane, a renowned gallerist and native Venetian. Tell me about your first encounters with the city.
PG: I really started to frequent it thanks to my wife. We lived in Paris, we met there. When we decided to get married, we started coming often together, three or four times a year, to visit her parents or for a bit of a holiday. We often went to Sant’Erasmo.
V.N: And how was it?
P.G: Fantastic. I love the dual aspect of Venice, which is both city and lagoon. I love the fact that there is no boundary between the city and nature. In other cities, you know, there’s the centre, the outskirts, and then, perhaps, you catch a glimpse of the countryside; the distance is often very great. Here, nature reaches you immediately through this lagoon which, to me, is part of Venice, not just its surroundings. This encounter was revelatory. It makes you understand what was there before the city was built: water and emerging lands. Through the lagoon, one can become aware of the incredible project of Venice. It’s something that never ceases to amaze me.
V.N: When did you decide to move to Venice and who led this choice?
P.G: We moved in 2016. At the time, I often travelled to the United States for work. Doing so from Paris or Venice was not that different, both in terms of organising my professional life and from a personal standpoint. The thing that might seem strange is that it was me who convinced Alberta to return to Venice. This is because, on all the occasions I had to visit, I always saw something special in it. I called and still call it “the city of the future”: I find it a city of great inspiration, especially for a profession like mine.
V.N: You are a man of science, which is perhaps more unusual in a city that lives and breathes art.
P.G: Science can also be art: you know, beautiful science! Anyway, yes, I did a PhD in quantum physics, but then I decided to pursue an entrepreneurial path in the field of biotechnology. We are at the forefront of new sciences and it’s a field that needs many stimuli. Here, the stimuli are plentiful. To quote a colleague of mine, Venice represents “the genius of humanity”. We are certainly at the dawn compared to the possibility of creating a biotechnological hub here, but at the same time I find it completely feasible, and indeed, it would be an ideal place for this. Just think that there was green chemistry in Marghera, there is a tradition in the field of technology, science, chemistry – and chemistry is the solfeggio of biology. In short, I think that Venice could be a perfect city for this sector.
V.N: What are the impediments, in your opinion?
P.G: There are two complications. On the one hand, the possibility of a resource “recycling” professionally and finding another similar job in the city if the work experience does not go well. The second thing – and it’s a national issue, not necessarily linked to Venice – is a problem related to funding research in the sector, which is costly and requires a balance between private equity and public funding. Today, there are too many dispersive forces. There is little money (compared to, for example, the United States), and geographical dispersion, with small hubs here and there. Instead, it would be good to group together. I always use this example: the owner of Sun Microsystems, a major computer company in the 70s, founded his company in Grenoble because there are mountains – and he was a great lover of skiing – and because there was a university with an advanced computer science course. And thanks to Sun Microsystems and the ecosystem that was created, many other initiatives were born in Grenoble. Venice could do the same. There are certainly no shortages of excellence in the field of research – for example, Ca’ Foscari has very valid programmes.
There is great openness, highly qualified staff, and also an excellent logistical system: a well-functioning airport, a well-served station, a more than excellent healthcare system. More housing would certainly help; and having international schools for families who would like to move would help, too. Without taking anything away from the Italian school system, which remains excellent, certainly those who move with teenage children who do not speak the language will struggle to send them to an Italian high school. When you recruit resources in this sector, especially at high levels, they look at the complete package. Some market research should be done to understand what competitors offer and create a package to bring people here. The heart, the beauty, can win and be decisive up to a certain point. It is necessary to be competitive in terms of price and services (and also more streamlined in bureaucratic processes), and then the rest is done by the magic of the city. Because it must be said that working and living here is a pleasure. You have the lagoon, the sea, the mountains a few kilometres away. The location is wonderful. Having my office here, I often have clients or collaborators come over; they arrive, do two days of work and then maybe add two days to go around and expore. They are always ecstatic.
“All cities with a minimum of ambition must have the infrastructure that allows for congregation, meetings, dialogue.“
V.N: So we need a system of services that can attract these skills and foster the development of centres of excellence.
P.G: Yes, because companies develop primarily through people’s knowledge and learning. And then, virtuous circles are also created outside the specific sector, with positive effects on all others – including high-level tourism, business tourism. But the same goes for the University. The key is that work must be well paid. In all sectors. Otherwise, you get nowhere.
V.N: Of course. In fact, the problem with monocultural tourism is precisely that it blinds one to the possibility of promoting other economies that create positive externalities and lead to diversification that frees one from dependence on a single source of income, which benefits everyone.
P.G: There’s tourism and tourism. If you’re a chef in a good restaurant or a person who provides high-level service, you can earn a good living. There are hospitality venues where you can organise conferences and promote many other things, not just sleep. All cities with a minimum of ambition must have the infrastructure that allows for congregation, meetings, dialogue. High-level tourism is an asset for Venice. Everything else, which undermines residency, is another matter and remains problematic.
V.N: How do you experience the city on a daily level?
P.G: Even if we often came before moving here, living here is not like spending a weekend once in a while. When you leave your country, it’s as if your brain does a sort of general cleaning: your beliefs, your habits, everything is questioned. This happens everywhere, not just in Venice. But it is very important to choose well because this reprogramming also happens based on the destination. In Venice, I can say that I feel happy every day. It’s not just a matter of beauty, even if I enjoy it immensely – I think of the Fondamenta della Sensa, with its views, or the Grand Canal, which you can cross a thousand times and always see something new, different – but also of strength, of uniqueness. You walk, and this for me is an advantage, I don’t find it inconvenient at all and indeed, it’s great for keeping fit. I find it very liveable.
V.N: I know you have a small boat, which is a further step towards venetianisation!
P.G: With my wife Alberta, we took a gallery with a water door precisely to have the small boat. She went to high school in Venice and still has many friends here, they are people I appreciate very much and who, over time, have also become my friends. In short, thanks to their advice, I started looking for a boat – a 6-metre Amadi with a 40 horsepower engine – and eventually, I got it. And then the fun began: as soon as I saw the boat, I thought, “no, I can’t do it!”. So I took some lessons with this gentleman, Giovanni, to start getting the hang of it. I started by taking small trips on wide canals, had my two or three moments of panic, a few embarrassing situations, but little by little I gained confidence, began to understand the many Byzantine rules that govern the canals, even picked up a few words of dialect when manoeuvring. Like anything, when you learn at 50, you tend to go a bit more cautiously and slowly, so I’m careful. We don’t use it as if it were a car, anyway. We take it to go to Sant’Erasmo or Pellestrina on weekends. I like it a lot, when I drive, I forget everything, I’m focused, I clear my head a bit.
V.N: What are your favourite places?
P.G: Alberta’s gallery, where I also have my office. The little church of Miracles. And then I must say there are also places I love that aren’t postcard-perfect – a bit industrial places like the Tronchetto, Santa Marta, the Arsenale warehouses. Even these things, after all, make Venice what it is – a city that lives thanks to brilliant, very complicated logistics.
“Venice has a strong identity, and it’s something that deserves to be preserved and transmitted. It’s not enough to come here. It’s necessary to be heirs of this culture, developing a correct sensitivity towards this city.“
V.N: A productive Venice, in short.
P.G: When you see this side of the city, you realise the strength and therefore the incredible project that Venice was. These are places with great development potential, with the possibility of entering modernity, with enormous value for companies that want to market themselves here, in this special place. Think about it: there are 7 billion people in the world and there is no place like this. There is no comparison. Venice is unique. Its lagoon is unique. There are many lagoons in the world, but this is a lagoon with marble palaces at its centre, do we realise? And then think about its great entrepreneurial and intellectual vocation – think about the development of printing, the invention of the concept of a patent. What is lacking today is a propensity for risk. Yet, the very history of this city is proof that risk can pay off.
V.N: What else is needed, in your opinion?
P.G: A mentoring system to pass on the aspects of a life and culture that are very different from any other place on earth. In this way, those who come here – especially to live, but also to visit – have the chance to learn the basics. This city has a strong identity, and it’s something that deserves to be preserved and transmitted. It’s not enough to come here. It’s necessary to be heirs of this culture, developing a correct sensitivity towards this city.
