New exit for the Uffizi Gallery

New Exit for the Uffizi Gallery
Photomontage of project
General information
StatusUnbuilt
TypeMuseum
Architectural styleModernism
Town or cityFlorence
CountryItaly
CompletedExpected after 2012
ClientMinistry of Culture. Commission for the Architectural and Landscape Heritage for the Provinces of Florence, Pistoia and Prato. Italy.
Technical details
Structural systemSteel frame and stone supports and cladding
Design and construction
Architect(s)Arata Isozaki, Andrea Maffei
Structural engineerCecil Balmond, Gabriele Del Mese, Maurizio Teora, Daniel Bosia, Luca Buzzoni / Arup Italia Srl, Ove Arup & Partners International Ltd
Awards and prizes1st Place

The New Exit for the Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Nuova Uscita per la Galleria Degli Uffizi), designed by architects Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, was the project that won the closed international design competition launched in 1998 with the purpose of expanding the museum's exhibition space and creating a grand exit. Many world-renowned architects participated, among whom were: Mario Botta, Norman Foster, Gae Aulenti, Hans Hollein and Vittorio Gregotti.[1] As part of the Grandi Uffizi initiative, a 60 million euro renovation and development project for the overall museum, the loggia's construction became a controversial subject for Florentines and thus has been at a standstill since its original scheduled completion date of 2003.[2] The project was envisioned as a large steel and stone loggia that would echo its counterpart, the Loggia dei Lanzi on Piazza della Signoria. While at the same time, it would comment on the precarious balance that exists between tradition and modernity in a context that seldom sees large architectural change.

  1. ^ Godoli, Antonio; Arata Isozaki; Gae Aulenti; Mario Botta; Norman Foster; Vittorio Gregotti; Hans Hollein (1998). La Nuova Uscita Degli Uffizi: Progetti per Piazza Castellani. Florence: Gruppo Editoriale Giunti. ISBN 9788809217133.
  2. ^ Ponsi, Andrea (10 February 2011). "The Uffizi Exit: Debate Continues over the Loggia Isozaki". The Florentine (136).