Caffè Nazionale by AMAA: Architectural Layers and Urban Memory in Arzignano

Located at the heart of Arzignano in northern Italy, Caffè Nazionale represents a nuanced intervention into the city’s fabric. AMAA, the studio founded by Marcello Galiotto and Alessandra Rampazzo, approached the project not as a tabula rasa but as a dialogic reconstruction. Rather than overwrite the historical layers, the architects chose to work with them, crafting a space that reflects the accumulated memory of the site. The project is conceptualized as a living palimpsest, where past and present cohabit without hierarchy.

Caffè Nazionale Technical Information

• Architects^1-33: AMAA
• Location: Arzignano, Vicenza, Italy
• Gross Area: 565 m² | 6,081 Sq. Ft.
• Project Years: 2023 – 2024
• Photographs: © Rory Gardiner, © Simone Bossi, © Mikael Olsson

The Caffè Nazionale project is a living work that embraces existing materials and their stories to create a new architecture.

–  AMAA Architects

Caffè Nazionale Photographs

Spatial Qualities and Organization

The design anchors itself in the urban realm by mediating between the civic presence of the adjacent City Hall and the vibrancy of the public square. This mediation is not merely spatial but experiential. Through the colonnade that defines the building’s perimeter, the threshold between interior and exterior is deliberately blurred. The architects conceived this continuity as an architectural device that grounds the project in the public life of Arzignano.

Central to the concept is the notion of theatricality. Spaces unfold in a sequence that evokes scenographic depth, from the urban exterior to the intimate inner courtyard. The architectural promenade is choreographed through a series of spatial episodes that heighten the user’s awareness of transitions, textures, and light. This performative reading of space aligns with AMAA’s broader interest in staging architecture as an experiential and interpretive act.

Caffè Nazionale is structured along a central axis that guides movement and visual continuity from the public square to the courtyard. The entry, positioned at the center of the 19th-century palazzo’s colonnaded façade, serves as a calibrated moment of opacity within an otherwise porous interface. Crafted from burnished iron and pivoting on a central axis, the door is punctuated by a diamond motif and anchored by a handle in serpentine marble. This singular element acts as a tactile introduction to the design ethos within.

The spatial organization strikes a balance between openness and enclosure. To the left of the entry, an open kitchen extends visual access to the act of preparation, reinforcing the project’s commitment to transparency. A stair adjacent to the bar leads to an elevated dining room, offering an alternative vantage point over the main hall.

The principal space unfolds to the right of the entrance. Here, the interplay between past interventions and new architectural elements is most evident. The room is defined by a pleated stainless steel curtain wall that subtly conceals and reveals. Behind it, posters by artist Stefan Marx reference Belle Époque theatrical imagery, reinforcing the performative undercurrent of the space. A vestibule beyond this wall serves as a liminal zone, mediating the shift from the constructed interior to the cultivated exterior of the birch garden. Each spatial layer deepens the experiential reading of the architecture.

Material Strategy and Detail Articulation

Material choices in the project underscore a tension between permanence and impermanence. Rather than restore surfaces to a pristine state, AMAA preserved patinas, imperfections, and historical traces. These decisions foreground the temporality of architecture and resist the urge to sanitize the past. Materials were selected not only for their physical properties but for their capacity to convey narrative.

The pleated metal wall functions as both a partition and an artifact. Constructed from perforated stainless steel, it alternately conceals and frames views, producing visual ambiguity. Light interacts with the surface, accentuating its folds and generating shifting patterns. The coffered ceiling in the main room is equally articulate, constructed from okumè plywood and integrating lighting and acoustics. The structure is exposed, asserting its tectonic logic while maintaining material refinement.

Furnishings, custom-designed in collaboration with artist Nero/Alessandro Neretti, reflect the same material ethos. Plywood benches, leather cushions, and linoleum table surfaces all share a directness of construction. Their forms recall the utilitarian clarity of Donald Judd’s furniture and New York subway benches, but they are reinterpreted with a tactile softness and civic generosity.

Caffè Nazionale Theoretical Significance

The architectural significance of Caffè Nazionale lies in its refusal to choose between preservation and innovation. AMAA’s intervention is rooted in critical continuity. It does not mimic the past but acknowledges it as an active agent in the design process. The result is an architecture that is temporally layered and spatially rich, offering multiple readings and uses.

This project forms part of a broader research trajectory for AMAA, particularly their exploration of the “unfinished” as an architectural position. By leaving certain elements exposed or unresolved, the architects foreground the construction process and invite ongoing interpretation. The project becomes not a fixed object but a framework for inhabitation and reflection.

The intervention also resonates with current debates around adaptive reuse, particularly in smaller urban contexts. Caffè Nazionale demonstrates how historical buildings can be reactivated through precise and conceptually rigorous design strategies. It underscores the value of craft, collaboration, and detail in producing architecture that is both grounded and experimental.

Through this project, AMAA has not only restored a civic space but reimagined it as a dynamic interface between history, material, and public life. In doing so, they have offered a compelling model for contemporary architectural practice in dialogue with the past.

Caffè Nazionale Plans

Caffè Nazionale Image Gallery

About AMAA

AMAA (Collaborative Architecture Office For Research And Development) is an Italian architecture studio founded in 2012 by Marcello Galiotto and Alessandra Rampazzo. With offices in Venice, Arzignano, and New York, the practice is known for its rigorous design research, material sensitivity, and layered architectural narratives. Drawing on academic and professional experience, AMAA explores themes such as temporality, the unfinished, and spatial memory through both public and private projects.

Credits and Additional Notes

1. Lead Architects: Marcello Galiotto, Alessandra Rampazzo
2. Partner in Charge: Marcello Galiotto
3. Project Management: Francesca Fasiol
4. Design Team: Marcello Galiotto, Francesca Fasiol, Eleonora Folli, Virna Rossetto
5. Models: Mara Tirapelle
6. Structural Engineering: Simone Michelotti
7. Fire Safety & Electrical Engineering: Nicola Rosa
8. Mechanical Engineering: Riccardo D’Alessandro
9. Acoustic Consultant: Luca Dal Cengio
10. Safety Coordinator: Simone Michelotti
11. Identity & Graphic Design: Studio MUT
12. Graphic Artist: Stefan Marx
13. Artist and Mock-up Maker: Nero / Alessandro Neretti
14. General Contractor: Moredile of Morabito Massimo Casillo Srl
15. Furniture and Lighting: Operae Interiors
16. Plumbing: LO.GI.T. Termoidraulica Snc
17. Electrical Systems: ELETTROIMPIANTI of Nogarole Srl
18. Security Systems: Falle Antifurti Srl
19. Window Frames: Fiorotto Design; Busato Srl (Cecchetto Davide)
20. Lighting: Viabizzuno
21. Metal Work: Lormet Steel Design
22. Kitchen Equipment: Frigotecnica Sas (Bincoletto Franca)
23. Restoration: Athena Srl (conservation); Adamah House (floor surfaces)
24. Leather Upholstery: Conceria Laba Srl
25. Sinks: Piba Marmi Srl
26. Bathroom Fixtures: Quadro Srl
27. Outdoor Marble Furniture: Bevilacqua Marmi Srl
28. Sound System: Autotecnica (Peretto Giuseppe)
29. Landscape and Green Areas: Dall’Ava
30. Ground Floor: 325 m²
31. Garden: 130 m²
32. Exterior Colonnade: 110 m²
33. Construction Cost: €1.6 million