Fondaco dei Tedeschi Venice
Old space, new face
An old space with a new face, Fontego dei Tedeschi as it's called in Venetian. "La Posta", the "Germans' Palace" or to me, the spot my husband and I starred in a student art film!
Architect Rem Koolhaas and his team have re-purposed this historic 13th century building into a Venetian high-end, high-security, luxury shopping mecca. Controversial among locals as they moved the building's cistern, off center.
Currently called: T Fondaco. A short, tight title for today's abbreviation-obsessed society. Fondaco defines the building's original purpose as a trading post, a warehouse for German merchants. Now run by Duty Free Shoppers or more commonly known by their abbreviation, DFS.
Renaissance in style, architecturally the building glows red and gold. Four floors facing upon an interior courtyard overlooking the world's most fashionably famous canal. Neighboring the Rialto Bridge, an original market space for Venetian commerce, rings apropos to this building's contemporary use.
Once frescoed by local artists such as Titian and Giorgione. Today's palace has a top floor exhibition space to showcase contemporary artist works.
This spot's highlight sits upstairs overlooking the city. Skip the shopping, avoid being doused in perfume and climb the steep stairs to the roof. Feel the weight and strength of this building as you go. A bird's eye perspective of a terracotta cityscape. Below, ripples of water splash along the building's foundation in this heavily trafficked area. The city's center silenced by the distance between sky and water.
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