In April 2022, in the heart of Florence, a new cultural space was inaugurated as a vanguard for the Italian art scene: Rifugio Digitale, the first exhibition space in Italy designed to host Crypto Art. It is a 165 square metre space conceived of as a versatile structure dedicated to hosting and organising exhibitions, events and presentations, as well as debates and lectures, aimed at a public eager to fully experience the immersion of contemporary Art. 

Rifugio Digitale is housed in a former anti-aircraft bunker, the Rifugio della Fornace, designed in 1943 as a place for protection from the bombings of World War II and abandoned for a long time. The tunnel, which extends 33 metres under Piazzale Michelangelo, has been renovated by the Florentine architecture studio Archea Associati and is characterised by a circular cross-section covered with glazed ceramic in shades of blue and green. This special covering on the curved walls, in conjunction with the lighting, gives the environment an almost underwater atmosphere, making Rifugio Digitale a place where time seems to be suspended and where Art becomes the master of space.

Fabrizio Plessi, one of the pioneers of video art in Europe, was involved in the opening of the gallery in collaboration with the Forma Edizioni publishing house and Tornabuoni Arte. The artist, whose research has always revolved around the themes of liquids and fires rendered through video installations and video sculptures, has created a site-specific installation for the occasion, entitled ORO (GOLD). A golden river runs the length of the tunnel, through 16 screens, perfectly combining the characteristics of the exhibition environment and the expressive power of contemporary art.

Fabrizio Plessi, born in Reggio Emilia in 1940, is one of the first contemporary artists who have used the monitor as a real material, as an expressive tool to elevate the meaningful value of images. His numerous participations at the Biennale di Venezia since 1974, when he presented his first video-installation, and his international experiences, have always positioned him as an artist of innovative and anticipatory experimentation. 
A Professor of Humanisation of Technologies at the Kunsthochschule für Medien in Cologne, where he held the chair of Electronic Scenography from 1990 to 2000, he focused his research on the definition of an artistic language that is always new and current. 

The work created for Rifugio Digitale is part of the artist's latest experimental phase, The Golden Age, inaugurated in 2021 with the publication of five digital works on the Nifty Gateway platform. This project allowed this artist to renew himself and measure himself with the tools of contemporary art: NFT and blockchain technology, “the media,” as Plessi himself declared, “best suited to representing the flow of a new liquid and digital reality, of a new art capable of striking an audience different from that of traditional art.”

At the opening of the exhibition, the artist said: “For Rifugio Digitale, I imagined a single large work that, almost biologically, could coexist with this anomalous and sensory circular architecture. Starting from the translucent surfaces of the room, I created a gigantic golden mosaic that, as it melts, moves and breathes in its subterranean liquidity, shining and sumptuous, like waves of an evocative and abstract sea in constant movement.”
He added: “ORO represents the flow of our consciousness, our passions, our desires, it represents a dream: the desire to live in a more golden, happy world. To do this, it is necessary to transform technology into art, because art has no limits and allows us to live in a wonderful way, while technology is the language of our age, from which we cannot escape”.

Rifugio Digitale, which was once a community ‘shelter’, is now a place on the borderline between chaotic contemporary reality and the digital art world. This is a space where the connection between the arts and technology generates an unexpected and interactive artistic experience. It is a space designed for constant change and always dynamic, with a new and exciting speed that distinguishes it from a traditional art gallery. 

In this exceptional location, Edra furniture succeeds in amplifying the expressive power of both the environment and the work it preserves. The golden furnishings designed by Jacopo Foggini and the Campana Brothers transport Plessi's gold out of the screen, shaping it into sculptures designed by the same passion that drove the artist, while Francesco Binfaré's Standard sofas blend in with the environment, reinforcing the intimate and cosy effect of the spaces.

“The spirit of communication is the true and profound philosophy of this extraordinary place,” says Fabrizio Plessi. “Rifugio Digitale represents the different past and future experiences. Everything ebbs and flows in this funnel of time, like a tireless replay of our history and our lives.” 

Daniele Rossi Architect and designer, born in Savona. In 2021 he published the volume The History of Art according to Instagram, a collection of over 700 posts that aims to tell the story of Art through the photographs of the observer. The realization of a digital museum that preserves the reactions of users to the products of Art. He is currently pursuing a research doctorate at the University of Genoa investigating the implications of NFT technology and the metaverse on the practice of Contemporary Design.