A text by Norman Kietzmann
A yacht is more than just a means of transport. It is a place to live. And that means it is also a place of culture. This is precisely the field in which Sanlorenzo is active. The shipyard from La Spezia has been present with its cultural hub Sanlorenzo Arts in the Collectors Lounges at Art Basel in Basel, Hong Kong and Miami Beach since 2018 - not as a stage for its own yacht models, but as a showcase for works by up-and-coming artists.
Sanlorenzo was also the main sponsor of the Italian pavilion at the 2022 Venice Art Biennale. It's all about testing out new playing fields. In this spirit, a permanent location has now been added in the lagoon city: Casa Sanlorenzo.
Top location in Venice
The location could hardly be better. Right next door is the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute with its high, white marble dome. The Grand Canal is within sight. The Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the Punta della Dogana, François Pinault's exhibition centre, are less than two or three minutes' walk away. Casa Sanlorenzo is right in the centre.
Massimo Perotti, CEO of the Sanlorenzo Group, spent a long time looking around the city to find the right location. Several palazzi on the Grand Canal were among them. But their exuberant splendour didn't feel right. "I'm a man of action. So this house suited me better," says Perotti (see interview with Massimo Perotti). Today's Casa Sanlorenzo was built as a private residence in the 1940s: A rational, unadorned building that nevertheless carried grandeur within it. It first had to be uncovered.
Casa Sanlorenzo: a work by star architect Lissoni
Perotti entrusted Piero Lissoni with this task. The Milanese architect and designer is the art director of Sanlorenzo and is known for his preference for a purist, yet always sensual aesthetic - which can be seen on board "Almax". Walls were removed and new windows were installed overlooking the garden, which flanks the elongated building and measures an impressive 600 square metres. A stroke of luck for Venice, especially because the green oasis is not visible from the outside and thus exudes a feeling of intimacy and tranquillity.
Original elements - such as the brick façade and the floors - were preserved. Where restoration was not possible, the rooms were reinterpreted with a contemporary architectural language. The result is 700 square metres of exhibition space spread over two floors.
A glass staircase connects the floors
The connection is created by a glass staircase that is illuminated by the sunlight streaming in from behind. "We are obsessed with stairs," says Piero Lissoni. His design with shimmering green steps pays homage to the proud glass tradition of Murano.
At the same time, it is a tribute to the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, who realised several legendary buildings in the lagoon in the 1950s and 1960s - always as an interplay of history and a modernity borne by sensuality.
Casa Sanlorenzo as a place that scrutinises art
"Casa Sanlorenzo becomes a place where you can pause, reflect and exchange ideas. A space for research, where art not only decorates, but questions. Where design does not impress, but guides. Where beauty is never an end in itself, but a carrier of ethics. In an increasingly virtual world, we wanted to invest in presence, in meaningful encounters and in shared experiences," says Massimo Perotti.
Works by Alighiero Boetti, Lucio Fontana and Emil Michael Klein are among the first to be shown at Casa Sanlorenzo. In the coming years, temporary exhibitions are planned, always in relation to the Biennale, which is dedicated alternately to art and architecture.
A new bridge for the city
A spatial intervention in the cityscape is also part of Casa Sanlorenzo. Piero Lissoni has replaced the small, dilapidated wooden staircase in front of the entrance to the house with a new structure. It is the first new bridge in Venice since 2008 and the steps are made of Istrian stone, which is typical of the lagoon city. Both railings are made of wood and their design is modelled on oars to emphasise their relationship to the water.
"A bridge not only connects two different points, but also different worlds. It's no coincidence that the expressions 'building cultural bridges' and 'building human bridges' are used," says the Milanese designer. It sounds like a successful start.
