Sore Thumb Beside the Rialto Bridge, Designed By Rem Koolhaas's OMA Studio

The Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the second largest historical building in Venice, and most recently the city's central post office, was re-opened on October 1, 2016 as a large duty-free shop oriented toward Asian tourists after a significant re-design by the architect and theorist Rem Koolhaas and his OMA Studio that opened up some interesting perspectives within the old structure (see above). Unfrequented by Venetians, however, and despite its central location right beside the Rialto Bridge, this large building, with its foundations in the 13th century, sticks out (as they say) like a store thumb in what subsists of local life. (photo: 10 November 2016)