The Timeless Palace with a large terrace suspended in the void is born in Peccioli

In the historic center of the medieval village of Peccioli, the Palazzo senza Tempo, a significant redevelopment and real estate regeneration intervention carried out by Mario Cucinella with a spectacular promenade suspended in the void, was inaugurated.

The intervention was carried out, along the edge of the medieval rampart, by recovering and redeveloping the 15th-century Palace on Via Carraia and transforming the crumbling building below.

Developed between 2016 and 2018, the project involved an area of 2,500 square meters and its goal was to create new multipurpose meeting, service, event and cultural spaces open to the community. Specifically, with the renovation of the Palace on Via Carraia, renamed the “Timeless Palace” because it is able to unite past, present and future, spaces and functions of the floors were reconfigured, work was carried out on the roof and façade, and new views of the interiors to the outside were created thanks to the inclusion of skylights and bow-windows that let in natural light. The new glazed roof, placed on the passage of the historic courtyard, completes the visual permeability of the spaces.

The historic building, formerly owned by the de’ Medici family, was purchased by the municipality years ago from the Gaslini Foundation, the last owner, which in the recent past “employed up to 1,000 people,” says Peccioli Mayor Renzo Macelloni. "A landmark that had fallen into disrepair. The project stands as one more intervention by the municipal administration on the historic center, aimed at infusing lifeblood. The building will be the site of exhibitions, installations but also residential workshops with national and international universities for studies related to Peccioli’s path as an example of a resilient community, now on display at the Biennale. A study center on the resilience of small Italian villages will also be born."

The Timeless Palace will host a series of temporary and permanent exhibitions. The first work, signed by Danish artist Jeppe Hein, came directly from König Galerie in Berlin: suspended in the void, it refracts rays from the skylight above, creating a play of reflections outside and on its own surface.
The street level was connected to the new architectural volume born from the ruined building below with a stairwell. This building, set on levels -1 and -2, is now an architectural element dominated by a play of transparencies that overlooks the Valdera landscape.

The redevelopment work constitutes a bridge between the historical memory that characterized these buildings and its future, a civic and cultural center not only for the village, but also for the entire Valdera.

“The intervention, conducted with courage and kindness,” comments Cucinella, “makes the buildings part of the contemporary life of the area: the regeneration of a site must be understood as a process capable of interpreting the past in dialogue with the contemporary. This architecture, a bridge between past and future, is meant to be just a frame for this beautiful landscape, a landscape that looks like a painting from the 1500s.”

Between the two redeveloped buildings is a large 600-square-meter suspended terrace that dominates the landscape with an overhang of about 20 meters from the ground. In dialogue with the pre-existing public entrances and a side staircase leading from street level to the -2 level, the terrace, like a large pier, overlooks the valley and becomes a new public square, embellished by a mural curated by French painter and sculptor Daniel Buren, testifying to the marriage of art and contemporary architecture.

The Tuscan village was invited, under the name Laboratorio Peccioli, and placed at the center of the exhibition running at the Italian Pavilion at the 17th. Venice Architecture Biennale.

Pictured, Palazzo senza Tempo and terrace at sunset. Credit Andrea Testi. Courtesy Municipality of Peccioli.

The Timeless Palace with a large terrace suspended in the void is born in Peccioli

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