The tradition of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has assigned scholars of the innovation process a specific task: to consider society and technology as human constructs. This thesis explores this relationship in depth using the SCOT (Social Construction of Technology) model, through a case study of the Venetian gondola. Focusing on the processes that began in the 20th century with the upheaval of the city’s production system and the introduction of the first motorboats, the tangibility of the gondola emerges as the result of complex interactions among social actors, which develop and are constructed in harmony with the city’s entire socio-technical fabric. In particular, this study attempts to demonstrate the effectiveness and limitations of SCOT in analyzing a ‘living’ artifact, physically shaped and adapted over time through continuous interaction between citizens, gondoliers, artisans, and political institutions. At the same time, the gondola fosters a specific social configuration that reinforces the distinction between local users and tourists of urban infrastructure, inevitably influencing Venice’s identity. In the processes involving it, the absence of a formal document defining its characteristics allows the artifact to modulate its identity while remaining aligned with changes in the city, thereby managing to survive to the present day.