The new Museum of the 20th Century by Sauerbruch Hutton has opened in the Venice suburb of Mestre. If you also want to explore the town, you will find the perfect place to stay in the neighborhood.
All in white
All in white, but without a bouquet of flowers - the guest rooms have a simple, understated charm.
Each room is a different size.
Location at Corte Legrenzi
So far, tourists have left Mestre to one side. Or they have spent the night here cheaply, but spent the whole day on the main island and not here, in Venice’s suburb on the mainland. The city fathers now want this to change: Mestre got a respectable pedestrian zone a few years ago and now a cultural attraction: the new historical museum “M9”.
In the immediate vicinity of the museum is an unexpectedly idyllic fountain courtyard, the Corte Legrenzi, surrounded by stores, galleries, bars and restaurants under its arcades. The “Legrenzi Rooms” bed & breakfast, which is tucked away in a corner of the courtyard, was also built during the renovation of this area in 2010.
Some of the existing buildings date back to the end of the 19th century and were privately owned until Filippo Campesan and his wife Silvia Fossetta, who runs an art gallery in the courtyard, took over one of them and turned it into a small hotel. They remodeled and furnished it themselves.
Trademark: White
Even the folded, steel entrance gate points to the hotel’s trademark: the color white. It dominates the entire ensemble. Behind the gate, a tiny courtyard opens up, leading directly to the reception desk and breakfast room. There are only eight rooms of different sizes in the renovated and extended building, four of which are maisonettes.
And indeed, everything is white: the old, whitewashed brickwork and ceiling beams, the bed coverings, plastic chairs, table, sofa and even the TV. There is also a small wardrobe, and of course the sleek, modern bathroom is also white. In contrast, there are modern, chrome-plated designer lights and fittings.
However, the whole thing does not have a perfectionist or elegant look, but rather a cheerful, makeshift charm reminiscent of an architecture student’s pad. The curtains, for example, are made of thick white plastic sheeting and the screed has only been painted light gray.
This monochrome ambience is not only pleasing to the eye, the color scheme has an advantage not to be sneezed at: the bloodthirsty mosquitoes typical of the area are easier to spot here than on the highly ornamental wallpaper of traditional Venetian hotels. The only disadvantage of the building could be that the many hard surfaces make the rooms quite noisy.
Development concept by Sauerbruch Hutton
Until now, a high, insurmountable wall has separated the Legrenzi courtyard and thus also the hotel from the new museum square. Sauerbruch Hutton have proposed a breakthrough into the arcades – it is to be hoped that this idea will be implemented, as not only the Legrenzi guests would benefit from the short route, but museum visitors would also have the opportunity to get to know one of the picturesque sides of Mestre.
Single room from 75,00 Euro
Address
Legrenzi Rooms
di A. Zecchin
Calle Legrenzi
Mestre, Venice
P.Iva 04821660281
Tel 0039 041 5044145
info@legrenzirooms.com
Photos: Alessandra Chemollo