SMAC san marco art centre debuts in venice within chipperfield-restored procuratie vecchie

SMAC brings new cultural ambitions to venice

Opening its doors on May 9th, 2025, just one day before the Venice Biennale launches its 19th International Architecture Exhibition, SMAC San Marco Art Centre arrives as an important new player in Venice’s cultural landscape. Housed in the Procuratie on Piazza San Marco, the historic icon restored by David Chipperfield Architects (see designboom’s coverage here), SMAC spans over 1,000 square meters of gallery space, establishing itself as a platform for architecture, art, design, and experimental discourse. Co-founders Anna Bursaux, David Gramazio, and David Hrankovic comment: ‘We focus on content that sheds light on the unexpected, that challenges conventions and poses rigorous questions.’

SMAC is permanently located on the second floor of the Procuratie, occupying a sequence of sixteen galleries arranged along an 80-meter corridor overlooking Saint Mark’s Square. Restored by Pritzker Prize-winning architect David Chipperfield for Generali Real Estate, the interiors feature Venetian marmorino, white terrazzo flooring, preserved Renaissance-era beams, and 4.5-meter ceilings. This transformation makes the Procuratie publicly accessible for the first time in 500 years.

‘This 500-year-old masterpiece has been reopened to the city and the world,’ says Generali’s Simone Bemporad, ‘designed to welcome and inspire a vibrant community that is engaged and dedicated to the great challenges of the future.’

Venice Procuratie | image © Mike Merkenschlager

the center sets international tone with inaugural exhibitions

Upon its opening at Venice’s Procuratie Vecchie, the SMAC San Marco Art Centre presents Migrating Modernism: The Architecture of Harry Seidler, the first major European retrospective on the Austrian-born Australian modernist. The exhibition traces the architect’s career across continents — from wartime exile to collaborations with Bauhaus mentors and Brazilian icon Oscar Niemeyer — and includes partnerships with artists like Frank Stella, Helen Frankenthaler, and Sol LeWitt. ‘Harry Seidler’s modern vision introduced a distinctly cosmopolitan culture to Australian cities,’ says curator Ann Stephen. Co-curator Paolo Stracchi adds, ‘Seidler’s architecture reflects the broader cultural, historical, and architectural conditions of its time.’

Alongside Seidler’s exhibition, SMAC debuts For All That Breathes on Earth: Jung Youngsun and Collaborators, the first international survey of Korea’s pioneering landscape architect. Organized with MMCA Korea and curated by Jihoi Lee, the show highlights Jung’s transformation of industrial sites into ecological sanctuaries, from Seoul’s Seonyudo Park to Incheon Airport’s green spaces. ‘Landscape architecture can be a poem written on earth,‘ says Jung. ‘I hope that the gardens we tend will be a source of healing and inspiration for all.‘ In a city shaped by water, Jung’s work resonates with Venice’s own environmental dialogue.

SMAC San Marco Art Centre galleries | image © Andrea Artoni, courtesy Generali Real Estate

Biennale activated with ‘The World Around’ symposium

Kicking off SMAC San Marco Art Centre’s opening week, The World Around On Site: Venice Biennale 2025 brings a public program to the art centre on May 8th, focusing on global design responses to contemporary crises. The event, hosted with non-profit design platform The World Around, features speakers from across architecture, culture, and technology, held in the auditorium of The Human Safety Net on the Procuratie’s third floor. The symposium underscores SMAC’s mission to foster interdisciplinary conversation at the intersection of architecture, society, and the future.

Located above SMAC, The Home of The Human Safety Net — a foundation also based in the Procuratie — offers an interactive experience titled A World of Potential. This proximity fosters collaboration between SMAC’s cultural programming and The Human Safety Net’s social initiatives. Through this shared context, the Venice art center SMAC becomes more than a museum—it emerges as a civic platform. ‘We welcome collaboration,’ say the founders. ‘We believe that the arts open new possibilities for human co-existence and allow for cities and communities to thrive.’

SMAC San Marco Art Centre galleries | image © Adriano Mura

As part of its ongoing programming, SMAC will present The Quantum Effect in autumn 2025, a cross-disciplinary exhibition co-curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jacqui Davies. Bridging science, cinema, art, and architecture, the exhibition investigates how quantum theory influences creative expression. From spatial paradoxes to sci-fi aesthetics in fashion and gaming, The Quantum Effect will exemplify the center’s ambition to fuse research with public experience.

Future programming will include two to four major exhibitions annually, each realized in collaboration with international institutions and curators. Designed to meet museum-quality standards, the space includes full climate and humidity control, event rooms with Napoleonic frescoes, and a private courtyard entrance at Piazza San Marco 105. With its flexible infrastructure and critical focus, SMAC is positioned as both a local landmark and a global stage.

SMAC San Marco Art Centre galleries | image © Andrea Artoni, courtesy Generali Real Estate