Exquisite and unique, La Serenissima is anything but serene these days, and efforts to shrug off the city's artistic theme park status are apparent on many fronts. Some of the architecture world's top names are working on exciting new projects; long-standing hoteliers are being forced out of their exorbitant complacency by a rash of newcomers; and a born-again community of sophisticated urban artisans is demanding (and creating) parallel eating, drinking and entertainment scenes rarely impinged upon by the ever-present tourist hordes.