Franco Zeffirelli Performing Arts Centre

24-07-2017

A treasure has arrived in Piazza San Firenze: the professional and artistic life of Maestro Franco Zeffirelli. A remarkable artistic journey spanning 70 years of wonder. The city of Florence pays tribute to the genius of the great director by creating the Centro Internazionale per le Arti dello Spettacolo Franco Zeffirelli, an international center for the performing arts dedicated to him.

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The Centro Internazionale per le Arti dello Spettacolo Franco Zeffirelli, promoted by Maestro Franco Zeffirelli himself, brings together and makes available to his city and to the world the entire artistic and cultural legacy of a career spanning nearly seventy years.

Almost four thousand square meters spread over two floors have been transformed into a museum, featuring ten interconnected rooms for concerts and art workshops. The center also serves as a study and research hub, housing more than 10,000 volumes from the library of one of the world’s most beloved directors. These works will remain here, in Piazza San Firenze opposite the Hotel Bernini Palace, together with his sketches that illustrated the tradition of Italian opera — an immense act of love.

The entirety of his personal archive will also be donated to Florence, including photographs with his friends Maria Callas, Barbra Streisand, and Ingrid Bergman. And with the generosity that only true creators can achieve, all of this will become material for workshops and training programs, made available to scholars and to the public alike. It is a cultural enrichment conceived especially for young people, who will come to Florence from all over the world for him, making the city truly even greater.

The entire right wing of the building, from the ground floor to the first floor, will house the Centro Internazionale per le Arti dello Spettacolo Franco Zeffirelli: two exhibition wings, an archive and library, a music room, a bookshop, a café, and administrative offices (design by Emanuele Lamedica). Source: Corriere Fiorentino.