Archinect - News 2024-11-05T19:00:50-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149971761/oma-revamps-13th-c-fondaco-dei-tedeschi-in-venice OMA revamps 13th c. Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice Nicholas Korody 2016-10-03T14:02:00-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/qx/qxj5btb5r5zdrcbx.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>&nbsp;Standing at the foot of the Rialto Bridge in Venice since 1228, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi has had many lives: a trading post for German merchants, a customs house in the Napoleonic era, a post office during Mussolini&rsquo;s regime. It survived two fires and extensive architectural interventions under fascism. Now, following a major renovation by <a href="http://archinect.com/firms/cover/382/oma" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OMA</a>, the Fondaco has opened as a department store.</p><p>The extended history of the Fondaco brought it historic &ldquo;monument status&rdquo; in 1987&mdash;despite its objective &ldquo;lack of authenticity&rdquo;, as the press release states, which prohibited major changes by OMA. Instead, the project, which was led by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Rem Koolhaas, Silvia Sandor and Francesco Moncada included a series of discreet interventions with large visual impact, &ldquo;vertical distribution devices&rdquo;, as well as new programming.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/5x/5xnn8h4coxc5wibm.jpg"></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/u5/u5omww2sp9fg0fzo.jpg"></p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/70/70r1a3n1ehkas8tc.jpg"></p><p>New entrances have been carved out to accompany the existing ones, while bright red escalators &ldquo;create a new public route through the building&rdquo;. Graphic patte...</p>