The Fondazione Accademia Carrara has added yet another marvel to the museum’s collection of masterpieces: the PwC Gardens. A space where art and nature meet to offer the public and the city a unique green area.
THE PwC GARDENS
Art, nature, taste and architecture meet in “the PwC Gardens”, the new green space of about 3.000 square meters, next to the Accademia Carrara. It consist of a new romantic garden, integrated into the urban setting of the city, an outdoor walkway connecting the exterior to the museum, and the new Bù Bistro in Carrara. These spaces create a form of interaction between the museum’s present and its past.
Access is free and open to everyone. It is possible to enter from the museum – through the new walkway – or from the indipendent entrance from “Via della Noca” Street.
THE HISTORY
The history of the green space next to the Accademia Carrara is closely intertwined with that of the museum itself. It all began in around 1775, when Giacomo Carrara purchased a building, together with a vegetable garden that extended to the base of the Venetian walls, in Borgo San Tomaso.
With the assistance of the architect Giovan Battista Gallizioli, Carrara renovated the building, but it soon proved inadequate for the needs of the Museum and the School. In 1802, it was thus decided to expand the facility. A competition was announced, and was won in 1804 by Simone Elia from Bergamo, who was entrusted with the construction of the neoclassical-style building which still today houses the Museum.
Leopoldo Pollack also took part in the competition, submitting an idea of great importance for the history of the green space next to the museum. His vision went beyond merely constructing a new building, for he also planned to redesign the vegetable gardens that went up towards the hill of Sant’Agostino. This project is beautifully documented in a watercolour preserved at the Accademia Carrara. Pollack envisioned the museum building not as an isolated structure, but as an integral part of the city’s urban fabric. He proposed using the vegetable garden as a hub that would connect the upper part of Bergamo with the historic neighbourhoods below. However, his ambitious idea never materialised, and the green space next to the Accademia Carrara slipped into silent oblivion for over two centuries.
It was only in 2022 that it was decided to redevelop this green space, in view of Bergamo and Brescia’s nomination as Italian Capitals of Culture in 2023. The project was led by the architect Antonio Ravalli, in collaboration with INOUT Architettura for the landscaping, and was supported by Lombardy Region, the City of Bergamo, and Fondazione Accademia Carrara, with the contribution of PwC. The redevelopment of this vast green area at the foot of the Baluardo di Sant’Agostino, with the fifteenth-century Muraine defensive structure to the north, included the creation of a romantic garden on a number of levels, an outdoor walkway connecting the various floors of the Museum, and the transformation of an abandoned building into a bistro. After more than two centuries, Pollack’s dream of integrating the museum into its natural urban setting has finally come true.
OPENING HOURS
20 September – 30 September 2024
Monday: 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Tuesday: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 1 a.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 1 a.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
From the 1° October 2024
Monday: 9 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 1 a.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 1 a.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
BÙ BISTROT IN CARRARA
The restoration of the building once used as the museum’s tools storage, has allowed Accademia Carrara to be equipped with a bistro open to all: Bù Bistrot in Carrara, with independent access from Via della Noca. Surrounded by the greenery of “the PwC Gardens”, Bù Bistrot in Carrara brings together food, art, territory, and hospitality. Gastronomy becomes a mean of enhancing the local identity and the territory through a free and creative interpretation of its ingredients.
OPENING HOURS
Monday: 9 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Tuesday: closed
Wednesday: 9 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Thursday: 9 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 12 a.m.
PARTNERS
