“A place of encounters and new perspectives, facing the Grand Canal: an amphiteatre that dialogues with the garden, the palace and everything that passes by, a metal sculpture that reveals everything around it,”  says Piero Lissoni, art director of Sanlorenzo. The architect is the author of Arena, an installation that will be inaugurated in the gardens of ACP – Palazzo Franchetti during the opening of the 59. International Art Exhibition (from 23 April to 27 November 2022).

Clearly visible from the Ponte dell'Accademia and the main canal of the Serenissima, Arena is a metal platform that stretches out towards the water and with its geometric telescope shape offers a new point of view of the city of Venice. Its stepped section also allows opportunities for pause and discussion, transforming the garden of Palazzo Franchetti into a hub for gathering and intellectual exchange. Meetings with various protagonists from the world of culture, art and design will be held here for the duration of the Venice Biennale.

The project is promoted by Sanlorenzo, a brand that has been revolutionising the world of yachting for 60 years and that over the years has created a very strong link with the world of art, through the birth of Sanlorenzo Arts. Arena – which will be presented as part of the collateral events of the Biennale Arte – is just the latest initiative in this direction. This year Sanlorenzo is also participating at the Biennale as main sponsor of the Italian Pavilion, testifying to the importance of the connections between art, engineering, design and craftsmanship: in short, between those factors whose combinations generate what we call Made in Italy.

Among the projects developed by Sanlorenzo in recent years are: the installation Sanlorenzo: Il mare a Milano, produced in collaboration with Triennale Milano and winner of the Compasso d'Oro ADI 2020; From shipyard to courtyard, an iconic installation designed by Piero Lissoni during the Milan Design Week 2019; the collaboration with Art Basel, of which it is host partner, which at each edition presents a project commissioned by the shipyard and created by an international artist. From 2020 Sanlorenzo is also Institutional Patron of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, the most important museum in Italy for 20th century European and American art.