Gondolas may have been around for a thousand years but the current asymmetrical design is a couple(few) centuries old. That makes sense because they were used for virtually all transportation in Venice - a big city in it's day - until the internal combustion engine. Now most of the goods and materials are delivered on barge like canal boats on the islands that make up Venice and beyond.

To this day they're (gondolas), still one of the more nimble boats used in the narrow canals off the main channels. Most every building has a door with steps on the water where goods are delivered.