• Project: Renovation and restoration
  • Place: Chiesa di San Lorenzo
  • Year: 2020
  • Type: Publicly accessible property
  • Financing Committee(s):
    • TBA21-Academy

Project description

Ocean Space reintegrates the historic Church of San Lorenzo back into the cultural fabric of Venice, after two years of conservation and renewal and more than 100 years of being largely closed to the public. For many, the opening of Ocean Space is the first moment in living memory when it is possible to experience this magnificent and enigmatic architectural structure.

Since 2016, Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza has led the complex conservation project of the Church of San Lorenzo through her foundation Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary. As part of her philanthropic activities she entrusted TBA21–Academy to bring the building back to life and open it up to the community for an active and regenerative use, as Ocean Space.

Ocean Space opened to the public in 2019, having been largely closed to the public for over 100 years and after extensive renovations, which were finished in early 2020.