RESTAURANT
Focusing on the Future

With the pandemic and its enforced lockdowns, it is at the moment usually only possible to visit Venice and its idyllic lagoon virtually. One thing that must not be missed on any trip is the Punta Conterie on the island of Murano. On the site of a former glass factory, “Conterie di Murano” boasts enough space for a multifaceted concept. “It was something we wanted to do but, more than anything else, it gave us great pleasure combining premises for culture and exhibitions with fine dining in a location with historical industrial architecture. Our aim is to get the message clearly out to potential visitors that Murano does not necessarily equate to mass tourism. Murano and Venice need a more selective, more customized type of tourism, one that is capable of appreciating the city’s distinctive characteristics. It was these considerations that encouraged me to realize this project – naturally in Murano, the island where I have spent my entire life to date,” explains Alessandro Vecchiato, the founder of Punta Conterie. Vecchiato joined forces with Dario Campa to realize this ambitious project, which initially found itself facing a need for extensive structural alteration work in order to breathe new life into an industrial complex that straddles 22,000 m² and is located directly on one of the city’s canals – with red bricks and floors made of cement-based resin. “What was important to us was to revive part of Murano’s architectural heritage by restoring and preserving as much as possible of the original structures and their architectural features, namely aspects such as the great mosaic staircase, the ceilings, with their characteristic wooden beams and the original flooring. We also used color to make the interiors appear larger and to provide the work on show there with maximum visibility,” reports Vecchiato.

The Punta Conterie now extends over two stories and consists of six units – an exhibition space with a little bookshop, retail premises, a flower boutique with attached restaurant, a bistro and café plus a patisserie lab which showcases not only the culinary specialties of the region but also new experiments. A stylish companion for lunch or dinner is a collection of drinking glasses that was created exclusively for Punta Conterie and is available in the shop. To sit down you can choose for example between the "Canal Chair" by Luca Nichetto for Moooi and the outdoor chairs by Contral on the terrace with a magnificent view of the mediterranean sea. Many of the furnishings, which create a harmonious transition between indoor and outdoor areas, were furthermore custom-made by Alessandro Vecchiato's Studio VEAL. The items on show in the exhibition room, for their part, consist mainly of choice examples of the region’s famed glass art, with its high quality and unusual colors. For coming shows, Vecchiato and Campa plan to focus on the different ways of handling Murano glass and hope to highlight the local industry which has, for centuries now, been characterized by its proximity to the water. A successful urban regeneration program and one which provides many interesting insights into the traditions of this North Italian island which it will hopefully also soon be possible for visitors to explore with all their senses.

Fondamenta Giustinian, 1
30141 Murano, Italy

Phone: +39 041 527 5174