An 18th-century palazzo fronting Venice’s Cannaregio Canal is getting a bespoke makeover thanks to funds of a blue-chip British artist. 

The Art Newspaper is reporting that the Palazzo Manfrin will be the new home of the Amish Kapoor Foundation following a renovation that will add a studio space, gallery, and art depository to a former school with help from UNA studio and local firm FWR Associati. 

The original Palazzo was kept as the seat of the Priuli family until the 19th century when it formed an early version of the Galléria dell’Accademia before eventually falling into disrepair like many of the city’s other grand palaces in the shadow of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection nearby. 

Per UNA studio: “The Palazzo Priuli Manfrin presents an architecture virtually unique in Venice. Its double-height hall is of typical Palladian design and its facade, without ornament, make this building the prototype of the Neoclassical style that is rarely found elsewhere in Venice.”

Kapoor’s ties to the city date back to 1990, when he was tapped to represent Britain in its entry to the 44th rendition of the Venice Art Biennale. Kapoor won the event’s young artist award that year and later stirred critics with his Ascension installation at the Basilica di San Giorgio in 2011. Most recently, a groundbreaking exhibition of the artist’s explorations into Vantablack planned for the Accademia was postponed to 2022 thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Kapoor was also on a list of 22 artists who signed an open letter urging the city to reconsider its tourism appeal in the midst of a pushback against the industry that has left Venice on shaky ground with UNESCO for most of the past decade. 

Mario Codognato, the director of the Kapoor Foundation, is a Venice native. The new Palazzo will open sometime in 2023. Hypebeast has a sneak preview of the transformation here.