David Chipperfield Architects Milan has been engaged by the Italian insurance company Generali to repair and reconfigure the Procuratie Vecchie on the Piazza San Marco in Venice, as the headquarters for its new social foundation, The Human Safety Net. For the first time, large parts of the building will be accessible to the public for exhibitions and events.
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Completed in the sixteenth century by Jacopo Sansovino, the Procuratie Vecchie dominates the north side of St Mark’s Square. As the city’s earliest public building in the Classical style, it established the architectural language of the square, but centuries of modifications from multiple occupancy have severely compromised its internal structure.
The project will reunify the interiors of the Procuratie and introduce clarity to the building, establishing suitable spaces for the foundation, as well as improving circulation. DCA Milan is also involved in a longer-term plan to create a public route through the Procuratie Nuove to the Giardinetti Reali on the Grand Canal, the restoration of which is also being funded by Generali.
