Milan Based Architecture Firm Designs New Human Safety Net Headquarters at Procuratie Vecchie
PRESS RELEASE
(Milan, 28, October 2022) — Migliore+Servetto was chosen by the jury as one of the most successful examples of 2022 from the hundreds nominated in the field of Interior Design especially because of the innovative and experimental approach aimed at generating sustainable and inclusive spaces, created “for sharing” and designed in relation to visitors’ behaviours, expectations and needs.
Presented in Essen on Friday 28 October, the prize is one of the most important in the field of international design, and represent an important recognition of the work by the studio, which will celebrate its first 25 years of activity this year spanning over 500 projects in 18 countries.
The Human Safety Net headquarters project is characterised by the lightness with which it relates both to the city of Venice, an emblem of strong cultural identity and hospitality, and to the historic complex of the Procuratie that hosts it. Equally, it focuses on inclusion and accessibility, which are central themes in the development of the project. The harmony between the parts is thus a basic element on which we have worked to build what we call a ‘nest space’, which represents the new sense of hospitality that THSN wants to promote.
Ico Migliore and Mara Servetto
3,000 sqm Project
The Migliore+Servetto was chosen by Generali Group to design the new headquarters of The Human Safety Net. The 3000 sqm project includes the Interior, Exhibition & Multimedia Design of the third floor and the reception spaces on the ground floor of the Procuratie Vecchie in Piazza San Marco, with artistic direction by Davide Rampello.
Four Distinct Areas
The project is divided into four distinct areas: an exhibition path with an innovative concept open to all, which offers visitors an immersive experience of the Generali Group Foundation and its activities; a café; a co-working area with functional zones reserved for the Foundation’s activities; event rooms that flank the auditorium. The overall intervention translates into an integrated project that ranges from space to graphics and the design of the digital content and all interactions, through the study of materials and the light design, with an innovative and experimental approach – the Studio’s true stylistic calling card – generating sustainable and inclusive spaces, created “for sharing” and designed in relation to the users’ behaviours, expectations and needs.
Discover Your Potential
The exhibition has been conceptualised by Migliore+Servetto as a progression of experiences and develops according to a prologue, three acts and an epilogue that lead visitors to discover their own potential, starting from values such as creativity, kindness, perseverance, gratitude, curiosity, hope, social intelligence and teamwork, identified by the curators Orna Cohen and Andreas Heinecke of DSE – Dialogue for Social Enterprise. These abstract concepts have been translated by Migliore+Servetto into 16 interactive machines à montrer. Both analogue and digital, they are capable of engaging the most diverse audiences and generating reflection and self-analysis.
Inclusion, Innovation, and Sustainability
The central themes of the project are inclusion, innovation and sustainability, as is very evident from the beginning of the exhibition path thanks to the use of i-Mesh natural fibre fabric. Its texture, designed ad hoc by the studio, interacts with light and shade through its natural property, staying in perfect harmony with the Studio’s design approach and with the experimentation involving the environmental perception of spaces.
‘Window on Venice’ — Leap through time.
The referencing of Venetian-ness and the genius loci of the intervention is also strong, both in terms of content and materials, thanks to the collaboration with local craftsmen. The link to the city is built on several levels, starting from the visual continuity with Piazza San Marco. Indeed, particular importance has been given to the 100 sixteenth-century oculi that run along the long side of the entire floor overlooking the hub of city life, giving a pictorial value to the whole, as well as establishing a direct relationship with Venice, which has welcomed and embraced cultures from all over the world.
In some of these openings, the view has been enhanced through a technological enlargement system that, like Canaletto’s optical machines, allows visitors to immerse themselves in the life of the piazza, through a new way of interacting with it. In addition, the installation ‘Window on Venice’ allows you to make a leap through time, exploring in 3D how various places of the city were in the sixteenth century, such as the Giudecca, the Rialto Bridge, the Arsenale, Burano and Murano.
