Closed for 30 years, the tender for the former theater was won by the European Institute of Design
A Digital and Visual Arts Center in the former Teatro dell’Oriuolo in Florence. It was theEuropean Institute of Design to win the tender from the Municipality of Florence for theformer Theater in via dell’Oriuolo, closed for almost 30 years and at the end of a complex restoration project.
Yesterday the Mayor Dario Nardella, in the presence of the Councilor for Public Works Elisabetta Meucci and the Councilor for Non-residential Heritage Federica Giuliani, handed over the keys to the Director of IED Florence Danilo Venturi. This is how the Digital and Visual Arts Center was born, the first in Italy for training and integration with the City. The former Teatro dell’Oriuolo, after the restoration works, has tripled the unbuilt area to the advantage of greenery and open spaces with the demolition of 2200 cubic meters, mainly in the area of the former stalls, and can count on some rooms , free from dividers, on the ground floor of Palazzo Bastogi for a total of 500 m2.
IED will create a hub for the sharing and knowledge of Digital and Visual Artsa place of interdisciplinary and intercultural exchange where theory meets practical experimentation, which takes shape in the exhibition areas, preserving the original vocation of the public place.
Divided into two large functional, training and exhibition areas, in addition to the gardenthe new hub involves the creation of digital laboratories, project rooms and teaching areas, along with two broad ones spaces reserved for exhibitions, events and workshops. The program of activities will be linked to the teaching of multimedia courses (Graphic Design, Illustration, Design for Communication, Content Creation and Publishing) and those of the art system (Museum Education, Curatorial Practice and Arts Management) with workshops, exhibitions contemporary art, workshops chaired by emerging artists. Added to this are the initiatives carried out on the occasion of Pitti Uomo. The space will also live on through other events in collaboration with the City.
Monthly talks and round tables, open to the public, will be held by the big names of the creative industry, as has already happened on site with Diego Marcon (Artist), Forma Fantasma (Interior Designer), Stefan Sagmeister (Graphic Designer), Danielle Kwateng (Executive Editor of Teen Vogue USA), Joana Vasconcelos (Artist).
The spaces. Training Area: is dedicated to teaching activities, both theoretical and practical, through the use of digital laboratories equipped with latest generation computers and graphic design software for the development of digital solutions relevant to different sectors.
Exhibition area: open Multimedia Space reserved for digital arts (Palazzo Bastogi) where computer stations, photo-video equipment, augmented reality viewers will be set up, as well as a large interactive monitor for viewing digital projects. Expo Arti Visive Space, the former Theater to be used as a project room, gallery, performance area, event area, presentations and lessons open to the public.
The garden will be used as an event area, studio or relaxation space open to the public.
Statements
“Two hundred meters from the Duomo, a historic place of post-war culture comes back to life after years of inactivity – declared the mayor Dario Nardella – We are reopening a theater after over 30 years of abandonment with an urban regeneration operation that will not only redevelop a container left empty but through an innovative intervention it will also allow the recovery of a new square for citizens and for cultural enjoyment. Florence has a multipurpose space in the heart of the city that will focus on digital and innovation.”
“Seeing the former Oriuolo theater come back to life after the mess it had become over the years is an enormous joy for me – said the councilor for public works Titta Meucci -. A place that can now be reborn with the management of the IED to finally give citizens access to this wonderful piece of the city nestled between Piazza Duomo and the Oblate Library. I followed the redevelopment works step by step to carry out this building rarefaction intervention, freeing up green space in the historic center. An objective achieved thanks to the commitment of all the technicians of the Municipality involved, whom I thank for the shared passion in renovating this beautiful space and reactivating its cultural and environmental potential, a stone’s throw from the Duomo”.
“The valorization of this important historical property of the heritage of the Municipality of Florence – underlined Maria Federica Giuliani, councilor for non-housing heritage – was one of the objectives that we had set ourselves as an administration together with Mayor Nardella. We believe that the IED project responds to what we hoped for with the tender, a place of culture and innovation for young people, thus revitalizing a space in the heart of the city that had been closed for years. Furthermore, the location in front of the Oblate library and next to the historical archive of the Municipality qualifies the offer cultural in continuity with what the Municipality has done in recent years”.
“The IED Group continues with its expansion project which does not only mean increasing the physical spaces available for training – so that this always maintains a high level standard – but also places of growth, aggregation and exchange for communities of young designers with and in the area, spaces ready to welcome international and non-international students. The IED offices in our cities aspire to become cultural hubs open to the city itself, consequently fueling an important supply chain. For the year 2024, we also add an expansion objective which will not only concern the cities where we are already present”, declared Francesco Gori, CEO of the IED Group.
“A stone’s throw from the Duomo, one of the most active post-war theaters becomes an open and usable hub for the City, capable of integrating the model of the Anglo-Saxon campus, where study spaces and cultural production are often included in a single area. Our project of a widespread campus is thus strengthened: the historic headquarters under Brunelleschi’s dome, the fashion design laboratories at Palazzo Pucci, where Emilio Pucci created his collections, the collaboration with the Oblate Library, where we have access to a vast collection of books and a rooftop cafe. Our offices are just a few meters away, in the center of Florence, so that students feel at home. All places have their own genius loci, the ability to inspire. Awareness and creativity: education starts from here”, added Danilo Venturi Director of IED Florence.
