A new interactive exhibition has been developed by The Human Safety Net Foundation, part of the Generali Group, in Procuratie Vecchie, its 500-year-old heritage building headquarters in St Mark’s Square, Venice. Launching during the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, 16 installations and the surrounding spaces have been designed by architecture studio Migliore+Servetto. The considered interiors reflect the foundation’s aims of collaboration, supporting vulnerable families with young children and providing assistance to refugees.
Inside the interactive exhibition at Procuratie Vecchie
Spanning approximately 3,000 sq m, the spaces ‘focus on inclusion and accessibility in equal measure – central themes in the development of the project’, say the studio’s Ico Migliore and Mara Servetto. Migliore+Servetto worked to establish an interior scheme and family-friendly exhibition that doesn’t dominate or interfere, but works with the existing structure, which has been recently restored by David Chipperfield Architects Milan.
A continuous run of arches flows naturally from the exhibition through to the library/café and beyond. Furnishing such as the bespoke suspended shelving system highlights the brickwork detail rather than distracts from it. Lighting, too, has been designed not to obscure the fabric of the building by employing a combination of treatments, which include floor-mounted fittings, track lighting and suspended linear units.
The company’s private co-working space known as ‘The Hub’ hosts furniture designed to encourage collaboration and then there’s ‘The Hall’, Generali Group’s state-of-the-art auditorium designed for international symposiums, congresses and events.
‘Art and culture allow us to get to know ourselves better, so the new home of The Human Safety Net and its interactive exhibition space are based on this fundamental concept,’ say Migliore and Servetto. ‘The result is a space designed to welcome the viewer in an empathetic way, with different rhythms and times, reinterpreting key symbols while making a constant reference to materials, design and environments. Within this, the richness of Venetian culture and territory remains a wide-ranging heritage to draw from and echo within the Procuratie.’
Visitors can go back in history with a ‘Time Telescope’ installation that encourages them to explore famous Venetian landmarks such as Giudecca, Rialto Bridge, Arsenale, Burano and Murano in 3D as they would have been in the 16th century.
The chosen materials and the shapes employed celebrate the Generali Group’s Venetian heritage and the Procuratie Vecchie’s enviable position. The wave-like form of the reclaimed timber benches in the café reflect the ubiquitous waterways, while glass is used in the accompanying tables – softened by an orange hue. The tables can be raised and lowered so visitors can come together in the spirit of collaboration. Low-level porthole windows offer glimpses out to the famous square establishing a continuous reconnection to the heart of Venice.
'A World of Potential Interactive Exhibition' at Procuratie Vecchie, Piazza San Marco, 107, 30124 Venezia VE, Italy
Open daily from 10am to 7pm from 1 April to 31 October
10am to 6pm from 1 November to 31 March
Closed Tuesdays
-
Osteria del Mare brings a slice of coastal Italy to The StrandSpanking fresh fish is the house speciality in this new London restaurant with a menu inspired by the Tuscan seaside
-
This rehabilitated arthouse cinema in the Netherlands romanticises the silver screenVisum Mundi is an eco-conscious, boutique cinema nestled in the heart of Wageningen, Netherlands
-
This auction gives you a chance to snap up rare Maison Martin MargielaThe largest ever auction of Martin Margiela’s work at his eponymous maison, collectors will be able to bid on 270 items from 1988-1994, from rare clothing to sketchbooks and ephemera
-
Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: a glimpse of what’s to come and Carlo Ratti's circular economy manifestoVenice Architecture Biennale 2025 curator Carlo Ratti talks about the theme, 'Intelligens' and launches his circular economy manifesto; the first glimpses into what’s to come at the festival's launch next spring
-
Year in review: top 10 architecture stories of 2023, selected by Wallpaper* architecture editor Ellie StathakiStathaki presents her top 10 architecture stories of 2023, from a world-leading festival to lesser-known 20th-century architecture, contemporary transport hubs, museums and a pool to splash in
-
Carlo Ratti announced curator of Venice Architecture Biennale 2025Carlo Ratti has been revealed as the Director of the Architecture Department at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, with the specific task of curating the 19th International Architecture Exhibition
-
Year in review: the top 10 house stories of 2023, as selected by Wallpaper’s Ellie StathakiDiscover our top 10 house stories of 2023, from modernist reinventions to urban dwellings and idyllic retreats
-
Nexus House caters to the Los Angeles lifestyle near Venice BeachNexus House by Woods + Dangaran is a Venice house perfect for the Los Angeles lifestyle
-
Lenny Steinberg invites us to her Los Angeles home: watch the filmInside the Venice Beach home of designer Lenny Steinberg, who takes inspiration from movement and music, and guides us through her treasures
-
Venice turns into ‘laboratory of the future’ with 18th Architecture Biennale openingCurator Lelsey Lokko’s theme, ‘The Laboratory of the Future’, brings passion, intensity and imagination to the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023, while placing Africa at its heart
-
2023 British Pavilion offers diverse and dynamic installation at the 2023 Venice BiennaleThe 2023 British Pavilion, 'Dancing Before the Moon,' contributes a triumphant blend of ritual, music, and cross-cultural pollination to the biennale’s ‘laboratory of the future’
