step inside caffè nazionale, AMAA's renovation of an italian palazzo

From Arzignano’s City Hall colonnade into the Caffè Nazionale

Caffè Nazionale in Arzignano, Italy, is a restoration and interior project by locally-based firm AMAA. Set beneath the nineteenth-century City Hall colonnade, the café occupies a position where civic space and daily life overlap. From the portico, visitors pass directly into the main hall, with the rhythmic arcade continuing inside. Views extend through the depth of the plan toward a small, tree-filled interior courtyard.

The entrance occupies the center of the colonnaded wing designed by Antonio Caregaro Negrin. Facing the square, the door stands out for its material presence. Burnished iron panels pivot on a central axis and carry a diamond pattern on both sides. A handle carved from green serpentine marble from Valmalenco, designed by artist Nero/Alessandro Neretti, brings a tactile detail at hand level.

To one side of the entrance, an open kitchen occupies the corner position at the start of the colonnade. Its visibility places preparation within the same visual field as arrival and seating. Between kitchen and bar, a stair rises toward an upper dining room.

images © Mikael Olsson

amaa curates a mosaic of layered textures

Throughout the main room of its renovated Caffè Nazionale, the architects at AMAA gather traces from multiple phases of occupation. Surfaces vary in tone and texture, with older finishes meeting newer insertions without concealment. A folded and perforated stainless steel wall stretches across part of the space, set slightly apart from the existing envelope. Its surface acts as a veil to offer partial views toward the arches facing the courtyard.

Behind this metal plane, illuminated posters by illustrator Stefan Marx appear through the perforations, recalling graphic fragments associated with public interiors from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Beneath, a polychrome mosaic floor spreads across the room, its fine patterning countered by a coffered ceiling in layered wood panels engineered for light distribution and acoustic control.

Caffè Nazionale sits beneath the City Hall colonnade in Arzignano, Italy

custom furnishings show attention to detail

AMAA designs a large pivot door within the steel wall which opens toward a vestibule between Caffè Nazionale’s main hall and its courtyard. The shift in light and scale marks a pause within the sequence. From here, the inner garden comes into view, arranged as a birch grove contained by surrounding walls yet visually connected to the wider landscape beyond the town. This outdoor room reads as part of the interior composition rather than a separate destination.

Seating throughout is based on an integrated system of wooden tables and benches designed by AMAA with Nero/Alessandro Neretti. Developed through full-scale prototypes, the furniture maintains consistent proportions while adjusting to different zones. Deeper within the room, rectangular tables support longer stays and dining. Near the square, smaller round tables gather along the facade and extend outward beneath the portico.

References range from utilitarian to minimalist typologies, translated into solid timber elements with visible joints. The furniture operates as part of the architectural fabric, aligning with floor patterns and structural rhythms.

the café opens directly from the public square into a deep interior axis

an open kitchen occupies the corner at the edge of the colonnade

temporary graphic posters appear behind the perforated metal surface

custom furnishings are integrated with the original structure

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project info:

name: Caffè Nazionale | @caffenazionale.it

architect: AMAA. Collaborative Office For Research And Development | @amaa_office

location: Arzignano, Venezia, Italy

area: 565 square meters

completion: 2024

structural engineering: Simone Michelotti
electrical engineering: Nicola Rosa
mechanical engineering: Riccardo D’Alessandro
acoustic planning: Luca Dal Cengio
contractor: Moredile of Morabito Massimo Casillo
electricians: ELETTROIMPIANTI of Nogarole
lighting contractor: Operae Interiors