Lucca's Centro delle Arti breaks ground with €10M investment

Construction has begun on the Centro delle Arti in Lucca's Piazzale Verdi, a new museum and exhibition hub set to open in 2029. The project repurposes the former Cinema Nazionale and the Manifattura Tabacchi social club, a historic building with layers of use from hospital to school to cinema. The Fondazione Centro delle Arti Lucca ETS, established in 2024 by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca and the Fondazione Centro Studi sull'Arte Licia e Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti ETS, leads the initiative. Alberto Fontana chairs the foundation, with Paolo Bolpagni as director. The 2,500-square-meter structure will undergo complete functional redevelopment while preserving 18th-century decorative elements in the entrance hall. Too Studio is the architecture firm behind the design. The total investment exceeds €10 million. The center will host exhibitions, educational activities, events, and conferences, aiming to become an international reference point for northwestern Tuscany. It will display works from the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca's collection, including pieces by De Simone, Civitali, Paolini, Batoni, Guidotti, and Kaufmann, and will draw on the archival and methodological resources of the Fondazione Ragghianti. During construction, scaffolding will be wrapped with a photographic project tracing the building's history.