Monday, 12 February, 2024
Food and Wine, Jelisa Castrodale
The airport in Florence, Italy, doesn’t have as many amenities as Italy’s significantly larger airports in Rome, Milan, and Venice. There aren’t any Hermes stores, you can’t pick up a Rolex before you board, and your dining options are limited to three unremarkable restaurants. But the primarily regional airport is about to undergo a massive, multi-year makeover that will give it a new Arrivals and Departures area, a reoriented runway, and a working vineyard on its roof.
Acclaimed architectural firm Rafael Viñoly Architects has shared the plans for the airport’s transformation, and the rooftop vineyard is definitely the most unexpected feature. According to a press release, the vineyard will include 38 rows of grapevines planted in concrete pots, and it will cover a total area of 19 acres. As of this writing, other details are scarce, but Rafael Viñoly Architects has shared that “a leading winemaker from the region” will be tasked with planting and tending to the vineyard, and the wine that is produced at … er … on the airport, will be aged in cellars located underneath the terminal.
“Florence is a place where things become permanent landmarks because they have a fundamental sense of internal logic and quality,” Rafael Viñoly, who died in March 2023, said of his plans for the project.
To read the full article, click HERE.