Lido - Palazzo del Cinema, Italy
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Palazzo del Cinema
THE ADDITIONS AND RESTORATION. SALA DARSENA SALA PASINETTI La Biennale di Venezia. La Biennale di Venezia.
LUNGOMARE MARCCONI30126 LIDO DIVENEZIATEL. +39 [email protected].
The main headquarters of the Venice International Film Festival is located at Palazzo del Cinema, Lido di Venezia. It was built in record time and in Modernist style. The Festival's fifth edition was inaugurated there on August 10, 1937. The Palazzo del Cinema is a combination of Rationalist and Modernist models. Its Hall features 1032 seats and is larger than the adjacent Casino building's rhetorical grandeur. Today, the original building is recognizable by its two rounded sides as well as its lateral facades.
The building was required to be expanded due to the increasing popularity of the Venice Film Festival. In the 1950s, there were more than 100 thousand people attending. Luigi Quagliata, an engineer, was given the task of designing a five-story building that could accommodate 5000 people. The Sala Grande was extended to accommodate 2300 people. There was also an open-air Arena, offices space, services and a roof terrace with panoramic views of Venice and Lido. The ambitious project was not completed due to lack of funds. In 1952, the Sala Grande was expanded with an outdoor Arena and a small annex that was attached to the main façade of the 1937 building called the Avancorpo. This enlarged the Foyer of the Sala Grande as well as providing offices and services. Later, the Foyer was reduced to accommodate the Sala Volpi screening area and provided both office space as well as a ticket office.