Press 2020

Accademia Italiana attains the Master’s Degree

The Florentine school, ‘Accademia Italiana’ of fashion, design and photography continues to focus on courses accredited by MIUR, the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research: from this year, together with the First Level Diploma courses in Fashion Design, Design, Graphic Design and Photography, equivalent to the three year undergraduate degree, the Second Level Diploma courses (two years, equivalent to the Master’s degree) make their debut. Many are the offers, from textiles to management for the specialist course in Fashion Design, from interiors to product for the Design course. The Accademia Italiana in Piazza Pitti, founded and presided by Vincenzo Giubba, is involving also the students from the Design course in a restyling project of a Baptist Evangelical church in Borgo Ognissanti in Florence, housed in a former theatre where the playwright Luigi del Buono invented the Stenterello mask: before becoming a church (in 1880), the building was in fact a theare of the Accademia dei Solleciti. It is here that in 1791 Shakespeare’s Hamlet was performed for the first time in Italy. The first results of the restyling project of the Baptist church will be presented in April, on the occasion of the end of academic year Design Exhibition by the Accademia Italiana students, under the sponsorship of the Florentine Order of Architects. Of the companies that have decided to sponsor the works are Santafiora for the stone coverings and Banci for the lighting.

Il sole 24 ore

The Project

The Baptist church in Borgo Ognissanti, firstly a theatre and then a place of worship entrusts Accademia Italiana its renovation in anticipation of new events. It was here that Luigi Del Buono founded the Accademia dei Solleciti and invented the mask.

NEW LIGHT HOME OF STENTERELLO

It was a theatre, it has been transformed into a place of worship and now it will return to host performances and concerts. The Baptist Church in Borgo Ognissanti returns to its original theatrical vocation thanks to a project created by Arch. Vincenzo Giubba, President of the Accademia Italiana Arte Moda e Design and proposed by the students (of different religions) on the school’s Design course. It is here that in the seventeen hundreds the playwright Luigi Del Buono, the founder with a handful of friends from the Accademia dei Solleciti invented the famous Stenterello mask (as recorded on the stone commemorative plate placed by the City Council next to the entrance door) and it is here that in 1791 was performed Shakespeare’s Hamlet for the first time in Italy. From 1880 the building houses the Baptist Evangelical community and has never abandoned the cultural activities, offering on the calendar, concerts and cultural encounters. But now, thanks to a restoration, whilst still maintaining it’s function as a place of worship, it wants to become a place of reference for the city in which culture, music, theatre, but also diverse culinary traditions encounter. “This is an inter-religious project, involving Catholic, Muslim and Protestant students” explains Dr. Giubba “This is to highlight that a transversal spirituality can exist in the interests of art and culture, in a vision of pacific collaboration”. On the walls are photos dedicated to Martin Luther King, the most famous Baptist pastor, Nobel Prize winner for peace. The form of the building is that of a theatre, with a raised altar that is set in the place of the old proscenium and the order of the boxes (that over the centuries have been bricked up and transformed into closets). “On the upper floor – relates the pastor, Carmine Bianchi – up to a few months ago we hosted ex prisoners through a social reintegration project and during the year, welcoming political refugees, we unite around our table”. In mid February the ideas of the Academia students, guided by Prof. Andrea Nannetti and Prof. Filippo Pernisco, will be presented to the Baptist community. In April the first project results will be presented at the second edition of the conference ‘Religions and Design’ (at the Palazzina Reale di Piazza Santa Maria Novella) on occasion of the end of academic year Design Exhibition, this year sponsored by the Florentine Order of Architects. In the realisation of the projects various sponsors will be involved, such as Santafiora for the stone coverings and the Florentine company Banci for the redesign of the illumination. And after the refurbishing of the church-theatre, Dr. Giubba has another dream in the drawer: recreate the Accademia del Solleciti.

Florence, REBIRTH of the Stenterello theatre with the project by Accademia Italiana

The building in Florence that houses the Baptist Church will take back its ancient passion for theatre, there where the famous Stenterello mask was invented. Underway in Florence, the requalification project realised by the Re-Design studio of architect Vincenzo Giubba (President of the Accademia Italiana Arte Moda Design), of the building in Borgo Ognissanti that from 1880 houses the Baptist Church and in which the playwright Luigi Del Buono, the founder with a handful of friends from the Accademia dei Solleciti, invented the famous Stenterello mask. Even if in these years the Baptist Church has never abandoned the concert and cultural encounters, the new project will reignite the original vocation interpreted in an innovative manner, creating a reference point for the city where culture, music, theatre as well as different gastronomic traditions can find a space for encounter and exchange. The new design and acoustics will be realised by the students from the Design course, under the supervision of the architects Vincenzo Giubba, Andrea Nannetti and the designer Filippo Pernisco. In the realisation of the various sponsors will participate: at the moment supporting the initiative “Santafiora” for the stone coverings and for the illumination which will be totally redesigned by the Florentine company “Banci” to make the environment more suggestive. “This is an inter-religious project, involving Catholic, Muslim and Protestant students” explains Dr. Giubba, “This is to highlight that a transversal spirituality can exist in the interests of art and culture, in a vision of pacific collaboration”. On the walls of the church, a series of photos dedicated to Martin Luther King, the most famous Baptist pastor, Nobel Peace Prize winner. The form of the building is clearly that of a theatre, and even the raised altar is set in the place of the old proscenium. “On the upper floor – relates the pastor, Carmine Bianchi – up until just a few months ago we hosted ex prisoners through a social re- integration project and during the year, welcoming political refugees, we unite around our table”. Before becoming a Church this building was in fact a theatre founded by the Accademia dei Solleciti, created by seven local citizens in 1778. This theatre boasts an important first: it is here that in 1791 Shakespeare’s Hamlet was presented for the first time in Italy. This fact seems even more curious when one notes that the Theatre of Ognissanti was mainly famous for the particularly vulgar popular comedy presentations that had as the main character the famous mask Stenterello, as one sees from the stone plaque placed by the Florence City Council just beside the main entrance door. In April the first design results, fruits of interdisciplinary activities, will be presented at the second edition of the conference “Religions and Design” (at the Palazzina Reale in Piazza Santa Maria Novella) on the occasion of the end of academic year Design Exhibition, this year sponsored by the Florentine Order of Architects. The Accademia Italiana projects continue in the academic year 2019-2020. As in each year, within the Photography of Interiors course coordinated by Prof. Lorenzo Michelini, the Accademia Italiana chooses a special location to hold the photography of interiors lessons. After some interesting locations in the city, this year the Tasso Hostel was chosen. The students produced a collection of shots destined to be used by them for a magazine layout. Accademia Italiana has also reconfirmed its collaboration with the maison Vivienne Westwood. Also last September, on occasion of the Paris fashion week, a group of fashion students was part of the organisational team of the main fashion show of the brand. A whole week spent inside the Parisian atelier of the maison during which the students participated personally in all the preparation stages of the Vivienne Westwood & Andreas Kronthaler fashion show. On occasion of the 70 th edition of the Montecatini Short Film Festival, an international short film festival, last October three students from the Photography and New Media degree course were the protagonists in the launch of the “Heritage” project. The initiative, conceived by the creative direction of the festival, proposed the narrative theme ‘Montecatini unknown’ seen through the shots of talented photography students. The shots taken enriched an exhibition inside the Montecatini Municipality Palace. In October the Banci Lighting Design Contest, an initiative conceived by the Accademia Italiana together with the commercial and creative team of the historical Florentine brand, which involved the students on the Interior and Product Design degree course in the Florence and Rome schools. The company wanted to challenge the students by asking them to revisit the classic forms typical of the brand in contemporary styles with modern objects, remaining at the same time faithful to the stylistic features of the main collections. The latest edition of Pitti Uomo saw nine photography students protagonists of the contest launched by Toma Italian Brands, the Apulian textile group that produces Havana & Co, Alessandro Dell’Acqua and Ungaro. In the days of the event, the young photographers were called to Fortress to take a series of shots of the new collections presented by the group. The initiative which aims to promote and support young photography talents, awarded Francesco Bianchini. Accademia Italiana will be among the partners of the next edition of the Discovery Festival in Florence from 20 th to 22 nd March. The event will have as the main theme ‘time’, analysed in all its forms and facets. Accademia Italiana will organise a meeting on Saturday 21 st March dedicated to the ‘Time of Fashion’ at which important guests will speak, each one called to tell their own experience of time in a vast and very varied field, just like fashion. A collaboration has been signed with Kentstrapper, leader in 3D printing and printer production. In mid February, the company’s staff will be at the Accademia Italiana during an event aimed at the students on the Design course, for the presentation of their machines and of the latest 3D printing techniques. An occasion to create small prototypes and small accessories that will be exhibited during the end of the academic year exhibition in April. Together with the goldsmith company Gold Art 348 from Arezzo, owner of the brand Tavanti Jewels, Accademia Italiana will organise a competition that between February and March will involve students on the degree course in Jewellery Design and Fashion Design. Firstly, the task of proposing a new jewellery collection following the mood board style of the company, the same that the students on the fashion course will follow to design the sketch of the dress that will be worn by the testimonial of the brand’s advertising campaign, set inside some of the major Italian theatres.

The Stenterello theatre reopens After two centuries, new debuts

The space in Borgonissanti will remain a Baptist church: renovation by Vincenzo Giubba. It will host a program of shows, concerts and other initiatives by the Accademia Italiana.

Under the arches of what was already a theatre, Stenterello was created, the only Carnival mask traceable to Florence. Towards the end of the seventeen hundreds, the playwright Luigi del Buono, imagined him as thin, frail, small in stature “who seems to have barely grown up”. And he also found a stage for him, a place where he could ideally have him perform. It is the actual Baptist Church in Borgo Ognissanti, a building built as a theatre by the Accademia dei Solleciti, made up of seven townspeople who formed a society in 1778. Amongst these was precisely Luigi Del Buono. To renovate the Stenterello theatre – as documented by the same commemorative plaque placed by the Municipality on the side of the entrance door – will be Arch. Vincenzo Giubba, President of the Accademia Italiana Arte Moda Design, with the involvement of the students on the Design course and the professors, Arch. Andrea Nannetti and the designer Filippo Pernisco. The form of the building is clearly that of a theatre, and also the raised altar is set in the place of the ancient proscenium. This setting, that from 1880 houses the Baptist Church, has never abandoned the cultural activities. With the new project it will become a reference point for the city, where culture, music, theatre but also different gastronomic traditions can find space for meeting and encounter. This is thanks to the excellent acoustics and the new set-up on which the Arch. Giubba is working: “It is an inter-religious project, involving Catholic, Muslim and Protestant students. This to highlight that a transversal spirituality can exist in the interest of art and culture, in a vision of pacific collaboration On the walls of the church photos of Martin Luther King are displayed, the most famous Baptist pastor. “On the upper floor – recounts the pastor, Carmine Bianchi – we have hosted ex-prisoners in the context of a social reintegration project and welcomed political refugees, w unite around our table”. Among the many firsts of this small architectural jewel, to remember that here in 1791 Shakespeare’s Hamlet was presented for the first time in Italy. “This is also a rather curious fact – continues Giubba – if you think that the Ognissanti Theatre was famous above all for the performances of popular comedies, particularly vulgar popular comedy presentations that had as a main character the famous mask Stenterello.” The renovation and refurbishment project for the Stenterello Theatre was conceived by Arch. Vincenzo Giubba, President of the Accademia Italiana Arte Moda Design with the professors and students on the Design course.

Accademia Italiana supports the rebirth of the Stenterello theater.

In collaboration with the Baptist church in Via Borgo Ognisanti

Thanks to a project of Re-Design, an idea brought forth by the architect Vincenzo Giubba (President of the Accademia Italiana arte moda design), the building that since 1880 has housed the Baptist church in Via Borgo Ognissanti will take back its ancient passion for the theater, in the place where playwright Luigi Del Buono, founder with a handful of friends of the “Accademia dei Solleciti” invented the famous mask Stenterello. While the Baptist church over the years has never abandoned cultural activities, always hosting concerts and cultural encounters, with this new project it promises to reignite the original vocation interpreted in an innovative manner, creating a reference point for the city of Florence where culture, music, theater as well as different gastronomic traditions can find a space for encounter and exchange. And this, confiding in the excellent acoustics and in the new design, is the project on which the architect Vincenzo Giubba, president of the Accademia Italiana, along with students from the Design course, followed in the various design aspects by two instructors: architect Andrea Nannetti and designer Filippo Pernisco is working. Various sponsors will participate in this project, including thus far the “Santafiora” industry for stone coverings and the Florentine lighting company “Banci” for the illumination which will be totally redesigned to make the environment more suggestive. “This is an inter-religious project” explains Dr. Giubba, “on the re-design of the Baptist church, which will maintain its religious functions, we have students working who are of the Catholic, Muslim and Protestant faiths. This to highlight that a transversal spirituality can exist in the interest of art and culture, in a vision of pacific collaboration. On the walls of the church are a series of photos dedicated to Martin Luther King, the most famous Baptist pastor, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The form of the building is clearly that of a theater, and even the raised altar is set in the place of the ancient proscenium. “On the upper floor” relates the pastor, Carmine Bianchi, “up until just a few months ago, we hosted ex-prisoners through a social re- integration project, and during the year we welcome political refugees, we unite around our table.” Before becoming a Church, in fact, this building was founded as a theater by the Accademia dei Solleciti created by seven local citizens in 1778. This theater boasts an important first: it was here that in 1791 that Shakespear’s Hamlet was presented for the first time in Italy. This fact seems even more curious when one notes that the Theater of Ognissanti was mainly famous for the particularly vulgar popular comedy presentations that had as a main character the famous mask Stenterello, as one sees from the stone marker placed by Florence City Council just beside the main entrance. In April the first design results, fruits of interdisciplinary activities, will be presented at the second edition of the conference “Design and Religions” (held at the Palazzina Reale at the Santa Maria Novella central train station) during the year-end design exhibition, this year sponsored by the Florentine Order of the Architects.