It is the city's second exhibition space for a collection of contemporary art by French billionaire François Pinault, owner of the Gucci Group. The first was Palazzo Grassi, also renovated in 2006 by Ando. But the halls of the palazzo were not spacious enough, and Pino acquired a complex of maritime customs (Punta della Dogana, or Dogana da Mar), which had been empty for 30 years: a triangular building on the "arrow" between Canal Grande and Canale della Giudecca, located almost opposite Piazza San Marco, next to the church of Santa Maria della Salute.
Ando removed all internal partitions and annexes that had appeared there after the 17th century in Punta della Dogana and replaced them with a rough concrete structure: halls spread over two floors, with extensive use of natural light, are grouped around a central two-story space. The marble-faced facades of the complex were carefully restored, only 20 gates overlooking the water were completely replaced, only through which works of art and other goods can be brought and taken away. Inside, the brickwork of the historic walls and wooden floors were also restored (only in some cases were parts of them replaced with frosted glass).
On an area of 5,000 meters in Punta della Dogana, 141 of the approximately 2,500 pieces from the Pino collection will be permanently on display, as well as temporary exhibitions. The opening of the center is timed to coincide with the 53rd Art Biennale currently taking place in Venice.
