FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI ONLUS
THE FORESTERIA
Introduction
Every place at the Giorgio Cini Foundation has its own history. The most well-known sites are the cloisters, the Palladian 'cenacolo', the 'manica lunga' and the library designed by Longhena. There is, however, another lesser- known spot that preserves a prestigious past in many ways underestimated. The Foresteria, as the guest quarters at the Cini Foundation are called, came into being as a private 'salotto' for Vittorio Cini's friends and, by tradition, has always been reserved for the Foundation's important
guests. The recent restoration of its twelve rooms and ample living-dining space was completed in September 2005.
The Foresteria's charm is the fruit of the exclusive 'mingling' from which its atmosphere is drawn. Few places in the world have been so regularly visited by the 'giants of the earth'. Even fewer are those where it is possible to meet while admiring paintings by esteemed masters of contemporary art, such as Carena, Severini, Sironi, and Vedova, in surroundings filled with invaluable objets d'art
and antique furnishings that reflect the taste and sensibility of era gone by.
Few places in the world vaunt a panorama comparable to the views from the Foresteria's windows: the Salute across the water, St Mark's basin directly below, Palazzo Ducale and the Riva degli Schiavoni to the right, the Zattere and the Giudecca to the left and, in the background, the water and sky of Venice. It is only place where one is actually on an island with a more than 1000-year-long history and at the site of one of the most prestigious Italian cultural
institutions - the Giorgio Cini Foundation on island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI ONLUS
I PARTNER Restoration
Restoring the Foresteria was a demanding task, especially from a philological point of view. The ideal obligation of respecting the site's genius loci, determined by more than
50 years of exclusivity, was coupled with necessity of bringing the spaces up to contemporary standards of comfort. Within this scenario, the Foresteria's restoration was articulated according to the following guidelines:
1. restoring the common spaces based on criteria aimed at respecting the site's exclusive atmosphere; 2. rationalising the room-space with the goal of increasing the number of rooms from six to twelve.
Both of these objectives were achieved thanks to the effort ::Design: and collaboration of various entities. In a restoration aimed :: Piero Lissoni, architect first and foremost at conserving the exclusive union of ...... ::Interiors: tradition and innovation typical of all the Foundation's ::Eliana Gerotto projects, prestigious partners such as FontanaArte, ...... Jesurum and Rubelli played a fundamental role in rising to ::Supervision: meet the challenge. Their contribution made it possible to ::Agostino Croff, engineer preserve - by reflecting contemporary taste but doing so in
accordance with our Institution's tradition - the uniqueness and exclusivity that transforms every moment at the Foresteria into a singular and unrepeatable experience.
FONDAZIONE GIORGIO CINI ONLUS
Visitors
Vittorio Cini envisioned the Foresteria as the exclusive place it was to become. Over the course of fifty years, its richly adorned walls have protected the profound mediations of scholars from all over the world. So it was for T.S. Eliot and Pound, who found themselves on San Giorgio to reflect upon Dante and medieval Italian literature. The lamps of the Foresteria have 'illuminated' the reserved encounters of heads of state, such as Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Francois Mitterand, Jimmy Carter, Romano Prodi, Giorgio Papandreu, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Juan Carlos of Spain, during the many summits held at the Foundation. Its sofas and armchairs have provided relaxing moments for figures from the world of politics, culture and the performing arts, the calibre of Eugenio Montale, Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Vittore Branca, Alain Danielou, Francesco Malipiero and Princess Irene of Greece.
Further testimony is given by the signatures of the many important figures who, from the 1950s on, have left their mark on the 'diaries' of the Foundation.