Punta della Dogana
A bit of History

The location:

The museum is housed in the former customs building, the Dogana da Mar, which sits proudly at the very tip of the Punta della Dogana. If you search for that name today, you’ll most likely find the museum at the top of the results — yet the Punta della Dogana is actually a geographical point: the tip of a small island that once served as the heart of Venice’s bustling customs trade.

Who is François Pinault:

The story begins in 2007, when the historic building was purchased and transformed by the French entrepreneur François Pinault. His business group owns major fashion houses such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Puma, as well as football clubs, magazines, and of course, art collections. Pinault has long been a passionate collector of contemporary art and has often been seen as a rival to fellow businessman Bernard Arnault, who opened the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2014.

By then, Pinault already had his two Venetian venues, but he also wanted to create something significant in Paris. Once again, he turned to the same architect he had worked with in Venice — Tadao Ando — to transform the Bourse de Commerce into a museum. This Paris location opened in May 2021.

The renovation of the Dogana da Mar:

The Japanese architect Tadao Ando led the renovation, which took two years and cost around EUR 20 million, fully financed by Pinault himself.

Ando chose to preserve the character of the 5,000 m² building, retaining elements such as the interior brick columns, while bringing everything up to modern standards — from water protection and flooring to doors and windows.

The project posed particular challenges: surrounded entirely by water, there was no space for storage or construction waste. Temporary work platforms had to be built on stilts, and over 10,000 tonnes of materials were delivered and stored on barges and pontoons. (These are wide, flat, and floating hollow bodies that are used, for example, to build bridges – or, as in Amsterdam, to support the floating flower market). Every operation had to account for the tides to prevent damage.

A canteen for the 120 workers was also built on stilts, and all staff underwent special training to ensure safety on such an unusual site. Before construction began, archaeological surveys were carried out to protect the site’s historical integrity.

It was a truly remarkable undertaking.

In 2009, three years after the reopening of Palazzo Grassi, this second Venetian venue of the Pinault Collection opened its doors to the public.

(For those interested, there are some fascinating photographs of the renovation and architectural process available in a related article.)