Piazzale degli Uffizi
Florence, Italy
Giorgio Vasari (1560, completed 1580)
August 2020
Photos by Erik Flatmo


I was inspired to consider the Piazzale degli Uffizi as a theatrical space by an essay written by Alison C. Fleming which presents it as a fascinating urban complex, simultaneously indoor and outdoor, which was conceived using important stage design ideas relative to its time. Additionally, this was the closest I could get to the Teatro Mediceo (1576, Bernardo Buontalenti), a historically important indoor theatrical space which no longer exists but was located within the Uffizi complex and was built around the same time. It is my understanding that at the time that both the Piazzale Uffizi and the Teatro Mediceo were built, European theaters did not yet exist as we know them architecturally today but they were soon to come.