Rifugio Digitale – Art, Digital Culture and Innovation

Not far from the centre, on a street parallel to the Arno below Piazzale Michelangelo, Rifugio Digitale is a new exhibition space and cultural centre. Until recently it was an abandoned 165-square-metre tunnel, a Second World War air-raid shelter designed in 1943 and known as the former Rifugio della Fornace. Bought at auction, it was returned to the city in a new form through redevelopment by Archea Associati. This historic site has become a place for new ways of seeing, where art, culture, past and future meet and converse in an innovative, compelling space. Rifugio Digitale is not a conventional gallery. It is a contemporary space for digital art and emerging trends, where art meets technology. The route follows a 30-metre tunnel with sixteen screens along the sides. It provides an atmospheric setting for exhibitions, events and performances involving art, architecture, photography, literature, cinema and other digital initiatives. The intended visitor experience is intense, unexpected and interactive, generated by connections between art, people and the digital world.