Palazzo Rota: in the heart of Venice

Where timeless charm meets contemporary design

Recently inaugurated and already at the centre of the international cultural scene, the 61st Venice Biennale Art Festival will be enlivening the city until 22 November 2026, with a packed programme of exhibitions, installations and performances spread across the Giardini, the Arsenale and numerous historic Venetian palaces. Entitled In Minor Keys and curated by Koyo Kouoh, this new edition transforms Venice into a global platform for contemporary artistic research, involving iconic districts such as Castello, Dorsoduro and San Marco in a journey that brings together art, architecture and urban memory.

During the Biennale, the city takes on a unique atmosphere: the narrow streets welcome collectors, designers, artists and creatives from all over the world, while centuries-old palaces, foundations and industrial spaces become places of experimentation and cultural exchange. Venice once again confirms its international vocation, embracing the contemporary while preserving a deep-rooted connection to a history stretching back over a thousand years. It is this ongoing dialogue between heritage and innovation that prompted the project to breathe new life into Palazzo Rota, an elegant 14th-century Venetian residence just a short walk from Piazza San Marco.

Designed by Studio Marco Piva in Milan, in collaboration with the Venetian Architectural and Landscape Heritage Authority, the project has restored splendour to one of the city’s historic buildings, turning it into six exclusive hospitality residences. The project interprets luxury through a contemporary lens, while preserving the authentic soul of the palace with a painstaking, elegant restoration effort that honours Venetian architectural heritage.
In a city that brings together international art and design during the Biennale, Palazzo Rota perfectly embodies the value of an architectural approach that blends heritage and contemporaneity. The refined interiors, featuring sophisticated materials and tactile details, shape elegant yet welcoming spaces, in which each element is part of an immersive, sensory experience.
Fioranese also has a role to play in this dialogue between past and present, and has contributed to the project with the MARMOREA collection. The marble-effect porcelain stoneware surfaces, including the Deco variant, were selected for the floor of the reception and for the floors and walls of all the bathrooms, becoming an integral part of the aesthetic narrative that defines the interiors.

Inspired by the noble quality of marble and enhanced with a contemporary twist, MARMOREA brings depth, light and a sophisticated material elegance to the spaces. The surfaces engage beautifully with the historical elements of the Venetian architecture, striking a smooth balance between decoration, texture and natural tones. In the bathrooms, the project enhances the wellness experience with refined, enveloping atmospheres in which design is expressed in every detail.
Particularly striking is the Deco version, which introduces an elegant, contemporary decorative pace that enhances the exclusive character of the residences. Geometries and textures enrich the spaces with personality and dynamism, without ever overwhelming the observer.
With the Palazzo Rota project, Fioranese once again confirms its vocation for engaging with international architecture and contexts of significant historical and cultural value, with surfaces conceived to interpret contemporary design through materiality, aesthetic research and design quality, thus contributing to the creation of authentic, emotional, timeless spaces.