Teatrino of Palazzo Grassi

Since the mid-19th century, the space next to Palazzo Grassi has changed use several times. It began as a romantic garden laid out for Baron Simeone De Sina, with greenhouses, fountains, stage sets, columns and pergolas. An open-air theatre replaced it in the 1950s; roofed over in the 1960s, it hosted receptions, fashion shows and performances, and its activity ended for good around the mid-1980s.

In 2011, François Pinault decided to transform this area, left in neglect for years, and entrusted its redevelopment to Tadao Ando. It is the Pinault Collection's third project in Italy, after Palazzo Grassi (2006) and Punta della Dogana (2009). Ando carried out the work in close dialogue with the Comune di Venezia and the competent authorities and services. Events began in May 2013, alongside the opening of the Punta della Dogana exhibition Prima Materia.

The existing building, trapezoidal in plan, is wedged between Calle delle Carrozze, Calle Grassi and two neighbouring buildings. Ando keeps its plan, the position of its walls and its historic exterior appearance; he adds only orthogonal steel grids at the openings, already tried at Punta della Dogana, and regularises the roof into a single slope. The facades receive marmorino on the Calle delle Carrozze side and a lime plaster elsewhere, finer at the bottom and coarser at the top. The roof is made of continuous zinc-alloy sheets, which echo the type of the old lead roofs.

Inside, Ando inserts an entirely new volume that defines the theatre and projection space. It has two parts. The 225-seat auditorium has a stage, a backstage with a technical area and tiered seating with armchairs; the foyer is pierced by large triangular openings that give free passage to the neighbouring spaces, and receives zenithal light from a large triangular skylight. Foyer and auditorium are defined by matt grey walls, slightly inclined. On an intermediate level, reached by a side stair, are the control room and the translation booths.

The structure combines the original perimeter steel pillars, restored, with new steel structures that follow the curved walls; these also carry the walls designed to soundproof the auditorium. The walls of the inner volume are marmorino, the others lime plaster; in the auditorium, technical materials absorb sound; floors are exposed concrete, carpet or wood. The finishes follow the minimalist approach typical of Ando.

For waterproofing, a protective hull, also called a water-containment tank, shields the building against tides up to two metres above sea level.

The Teatrino is the third venue of the Pinault Collection's network in Venice, with Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana. It stages series of encounters with artists, scholars and writers, along with screenings, workshops and masterclasses for both children and adults, talks devoted to art, architecture, literature and cinema, and concerts. It works with many Venetian cultural bodies and with universities.

You enter the Teatrino for one of its events: a talk, screening, workshop or concert. The programme is published on the Pinault Collection website, and each event's page says whether admission is free (marked "Gratuito") or by paid booking, as for some concerts. The hours that website publishes (every day except Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) are those of the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana exhibitions.

Address: San Marco 3260, Venice; vaporetto San Samuele or Sant'Angelo. From the San Samuele landing stage, access is free of architectural barriers; inside, there are lifts, movable ramps and wheelchairs on request.