Italy funds Uffizi's Isozaki Loggia after years of controversy

The Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBACT) has approved a €103.6 million investment plan called 'Grandi Progetti Beni Culturali,' which includes €12 million for the long-delayed Isozaki Loggia at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Arata Isozaki and his Italian partner Andrea Maffei, the 23-meter-high loggia was first conceived in 1998 and approved by the ministry in 2009 but never built. The project has been a source of debate in Florence. Uffizi director Eike Schmidt and Florence Mayor Dario Nardella expressed satisfaction, with Nardella calling it 'a great day' on social media. The plan also allocates €4.5 million for a new Museum of the Italian Language at Santa Maria Novella, timed for the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death. Other major investments include €35 million for restoring Palazzo Silvestri Rivaldi in Rome to house the MiBACT's advanced training school, €16 million for the State Archives of Rome, €20 million for expanding the Venice Biennale at the Arsenale, €5 million for Mantua's Palazzo Te park, €3 million for Genoa's Abbey of San Giuliano (future home of the Casa dei Cantautori Liguri), €3 million for the Sibari Archaeological Park, €1.1 million for the Laus Pompeia Archaeological Park in Lodi, €2 million for a cultural center at Cà del Dutùr on Monte Isola, and €1.5 million for the Part museum in Rimini.