Following an international competition, the Italian insurance company Generali has selected David Chipperfield Architects Milan 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.
Completed in the sixteenth century by Jacopo Sansovino, the Procuratie Vecchie dominates the north side of St Mark’s Square. Its monumental façade would go on to establish the classical language for the subsequent developments on the southern and eastern sides. Behind the façade, however, 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 Giardini Reali on the Bacino di San Marco waterfront, the restoration of which is also being funded by Generali.
Image by Simone Padovani/Awakening/Getty Images for Generali Group