The World’s 11 Best Department Stores 2017
#1 T FONDACO DEI TEDESCHI
CALLE DEL FONTEGO DEI TEDESCHI, VENICE, ITALY
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Number one on our list is The T Fondaco Dei Tedeschi, Venice. Located in a building that dates all the way back to the 1200s, it is an example of Renaissance architecture. Throughout its long history, Fondaco has been many things, a palace, a market place and the headquarters for 11th-century German merchants.
In 2016, the building opened as a department store by leading luxury travel retailer, DFS, designed by OMA for preservation work and Jamie Forbert Architects for the interior.
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Describing the building as a store doesn’t do it justice considering it takes up an entire 13th-century palazzo. Situated at the foot of the Rialto Bridge, the Fondaco is one of Venice’s largest buildings. It has twice been destroyed and rebuilt and has undergone numerous architectural renovations throughout the 20th century. In 1987, it was deemed a ‘legal monument’ which forbade any more structural changes.
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This produced a unique task for OMA when presented with the challenge to turn it into a department store. The practice was able to complete the task through strategic interventions which explore the building. OMA made excavations through the original mass to create new perspectives from which the building can be viewed, whilst remaining true to the authenticity of the property.
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A new rooftop was created by renovating the existing 19th Century pavilion. It hangs over a steel and glass floor, below which is a beautiful central courtyard.
The courtyard plazza has been opened up to pedestrians allowing it to remain true to its historic role as urban ‘campo.’
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Escalators have been added to the building for the practicality and ease of store customers. OMA kept a number of the building’s original rooms and historical relics including the walls of the gallerias which have been painted in contemporary designs.
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Overall the store is architecturally breath taking and the perfect place to house some of the world’s most luxurious products.
