Fondaco dei Tedeschi - "German Courtyard" next to the Rialto Bridge, one of the largest buildings in Venice. This representation of German merchants appeared in Venice in the 13th century, and acquired its current appearance at the beginning of the 16th century. Under Napoleon, the building was used as a customs office, under Mussolini - as a post office, by the beginning of the 21st century it was empty. Now a department store of the Hong Kong company DFS, the owner of a network of Duty Free stores at the airports of the world, has opened there (photos of the building with the retail equipment already placed can be viewed here).
Since 1987, Fondaco dei Tedeschi has had the status of an architectural monument, so any changes to its structure are almost impossible. However, there are very few historical parts left, in fact, only a part of the facades: all the floors and the frame were replaced with concrete ones when the building was turned into a post office. That is, de facto, this is a building of the 19th and even more of the 20th century, which is considered to be Renaissance and therefore protected with special severity. This story fits well with OMA's interests.
the concept of "chronochaos" and the broader theme of modern preservation, when people, on the one hand, are obsessed with the past, the desire to revive or preserve old buildings, on the other hand, they part with buildings without pity for various reasons of undesirable periods (say, 1960s - 1970s). x years). In addition, the nostalgic desire to return to the past often destroys the authenticity of "real" monuments, which, for example, are supplemented with fakes imitating historical architecture, supposedly to preserve context. In the case of Fondaco, the authors of the project believe, its authenticity lies in the constant changes that it has undergone over the centuries - and not in the no longer authentic arches and walls. Therefore, they avoided nostalgic reconstruction of the past and tried to remove the aura of mystery from the “sacred” image of the monument, while revealing its multilayered history.
OMA architects (the project was carried out by the partners of the bureau Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and Rem Koolhaas, as well as GAP Silvia Sandor), taking into account the protected status of Fondaco, limited themselves to measures to create vertical connections between parts of the building and various kinds of "interventions" that make it possible to reuse it. In particular, the role of the building as a public space is emphasized by the courtyard open to all (you can pass through it at any time, like through any Venetian Campo square) and the observation deck on the roof. The hall above the new glass ceiling of the courtyard also serves as a public function: there you can arrange various kinds of cultural events. Hall and terrace - reconstruction of a 19th century superstructure.
Two new entrances were added to the existing entrances, new escalators were erected, the premises were combined into enfilades in the spirit of the original plans. The walls of the galleries, once covered with frescoes, will again receive murals - already modern. The corner rooms, key to the historic design of the Fondaco, have been left untouched.
