Heritage Alert [renewed]: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy

Following the first Heritage Alert in November 2020 (see below), on 29 January 2021 ICOMOS received an encouraging response from the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella in which he announced that the city, owner of the Stadium, would hold an international design competition for the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

However, following the issue of the call for tenders and the publication of the winning design in 2022, ICOMOS and the Pier Luigi Nervi Project Foundation (PLN) wish to again raise their serious concerns on the legislative framework, the premises, requirements, selection procedure and outcomes of the international design competition for the Stadium and will analyse the winning proposal in detail to demonstrate the heavy impact it will have on Nervi’s original structure, contradicting the announced intention to preserve its original values.

03 December 2020

ICOMOS and the ISC20C, in collaboration with Pier Luigi Nervi Project Association, has released an International Heritage Alert regarding the Stadio Artemio Franchi (1929-32) by Pier Luigi Nervi, Florence, Italy.

The Heritage Alert is in reaction to the announcement on November 16, 2020, that the Fiorentina Football Club, with the support of the Municipality of Florence, has requested authorization from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage to demolish in whole or in part the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

We understand that this has been done pursuant to the recently passed law that specifically exempts sporting facilities from the strict requirements of the Italian Cultural Heritage Code. The Stadio Artemio Franchi is an internationally significant heritage place designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, one of the greatest structural engineers of the 20th Century.

The Heritage Alert has been issued with the hope that the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism and the Municipality of Florence will stop the proposed demolition (partial or total) of the stadium.