Blue-bloods lead Florentine revolt against brutalist property developers

 FLORENCE — A group of Florentine aristocrats is leading a revolt against the incursions of foreign property speculators threatening the architectural harmony of the city of Dante and Michelangelo. Representatives of 16 noble families gathered in the Palazzo Corsini recently to appeal for a change of course to the mayor, joining local plebeians in a rebellion against the conversion of ancient buildings into luxury residences and hotels.

 As well as providing the location for the meeting, two members of the Corsini family — Filippo and Rezia Corsini — endorsed the document. Their family boasts a 14th century saint, Andrea, and an 18th century pope, Clement XII, who founded the Vatican Museum and commissioned the Trevi Fountain. Initial focus is on the Officine Grandi Riparazioni, a former railway repair yard, which a Luxembourg company plans to convert into luxury apartments and the campaigners would like to see as part of a green hub linking the new and the old cities.

 “Let’s turn it into a park like the Kulturforum in Berlin,” the campaigners said, renouncing urban alterations that were cancelling “a stratified document of civilisation and beauty”.

 Elsewhere, residents near the former San Gallo hospital are indignant as an “extra-luxury citadel” takes shape. The complex, including 33 suites, 56 rooms and a roof-top swimming pool, will tower over neighbouring buildings, some dating back to the 14th century. The 117 million euro complex is reportedly being funded by a family from Singapore.

 “The city is being abused by international finance. It’s time to set some limits,” said Roberto Budini Gattai, a former professor of urban planning at Florence University and a spokesman for the aristocratic activists.

 Budini Gattai said the city needed to preserve some empty spaces to allow it to breathe. “Otherwise, without empty spaces, what has been built will lose value.”

 The activists’ spokesman said the bourgeoisie of the past was interested in presenting itself with elegance. “That produced urban developments that we all benefit from today.”

 Aesthetically minded cosmopolitan settlers had left a lasting mark on the city in the 19th and 20th centuries, he said. “Today it’s a feeding trough.”

 Budini Gattai’s family have been members of the Florentine nobility since Medici times and some of his relatives participated in the Pazzi conspiracy, an attempt to assassinate Lorenzo de’ Medici in 1478.

 Budini Gattai said there was no modern precedent for his organised aristocratic activism, which has been described as a “Ciompi revolt in reverse”. A rebellion by Florence’s salaried wool weavers, known as ciompi, in 1378, is sometimes cited as the first working class revolt in European history.

 He dismissed suggestions that the aristocrats were privileged “Nimbies” or paternalists, saying many of the old Tuscan families had a long history of giving back to the local community, something that wasn’t always the case with the newly arrived foreign speculators.

 He said many people had thanked him for stirring things up. “The city suffers, sees, and says nothing,” he said.

 Florence is also digesting the recent news that 10 people, including council officials, are under investigation for alleged planning law violations in connection with the construction of the Black Cube, another striking modern building that overshadows its neighbours.

 “Why build a black thing in a city that is all of another colour?” asked Ginevra Marchi, a publisher and member of the aristocratic campaign group.

 La Repubblica newspaper framed the showdown as “blue blood against black cube”.

 The blue-blooded rebellion has been a source of embarrassment for Florence’s centre-left mayor, Sara Funaro, and the head of planning, Caterina Biti.

 Biti said she was ready to engage with everyone. “But we would like to talk about how many buildings belonging to the grand and ancient families have ended up being sold because they didn’t have enough money to maintain them, often ending up as tourist rentals”.

 Budini Gattai said Florence’s new female leadership had so far proved as impervious to persuasion as their male predecessors.

 “I have been campaigning in the squares for a decade, meeting with impermeability and arrogance,"she said.

 "Now perhaps we can break down the wall, at least be heard, and start a genuine discussion on the future of the city.”

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