Recreos: the project seeking to restore Via Palazzuolo’s artisan identity

Florence is known around the world for its monuments, museums, and Renaissance masterpieces. Yet the city’s true soul also lives in its botteghe: small workshops where artisans preserve techniques passed down from generation to generation, keeping alive a tradition that is deeply rooted in Florentine identity.

It is precisely this heritage that inspired Recreos, a project launched by Fondazione CR Firenze in 2024 and developed in collaboration with the Municipality of Florence. Far more than a simple urban redevelopment initiative, Recreos proposes a new way of imagining the city: reclaiming abandoned spaces, supporting the local economy, and restoring a central role to the artisans who have made Florence an international point of reference for creativity and excellence.

For visitors seeking authentic experiences, initiatives such as this offer a valuable opportunity to discover a Florence that extends beyond its most iconic landmarks: a living city shaped by people, crafts, and stories.

A new life for Via Palazzuolo
Located just a few minutes from Santa Maria Novella train station, Via Palazzuolo was, for centuries, an important hub of artisan workshops and small businesses. In recent years, however, the area has faced a number of challenges related to vacant properties, the loss of its commercial identity, and issues connected to safety and quality of life.

Recreos was created with the specific aim of reversing this trend. The project seeks to promote a form of urban and social regeneration that combines the redevelopment of public spaces with the strengthening of the local economy, creating a more welcoming environment for both residents and visitors.

The return of the botteghe
At the heart of the project is the reopening of currently unused commercial spaces, which will welcome new artisans, artists, galleries, and small creative businesses.

A total of 43 commercial properties will be renovated and made available free of charge for three years to professionals selected through a public call. The initiative will allow emerging talents to establish their businesses without the burden of initial rental costs, encouraging the development of a new generation of artisan workshops.

Since the project was first announced, interest has exceeded all expectations. Hundreds of applications have been received from artists, sculptors, printmakers, tailors, leather artisans, luthiers, and many other professionals working in both traditional and contemporary craftsmanship.

A city designed for people
Recreos is not limited to bringing vacant spaces back to life. The project also includes a major urban redevelopment plan designed by LUCA DINI Design & Architecture.

The main interventions include reducing car traffic, expanding pedestrian areas, creating new spaces for social interaction, increasing urban greenery, introducing carefully planned lighting, and adding street furniture intended to encourage people to experience this part of the city once again.

The aim is to transform Via Palazzuolo into a safer, more pleasant, and more accessible place, where residents, business owners, and visitors can share everyday life in a more authentic and welcoming atmosphere.

Much more than an urban project
Since its launch in 2024, Recreos has been conceived first and foremost as a social regeneration project, even before being an urban one.

In addition to revitalizing artisan workshops, the initiative includes services for families, educational programs, intercultural activities, artistic projects, support for the local economy, and a neighborhood concierge: a permanent space dedicated to welcoming, informing, and encouraging dialogue among residents, business owners, and institutions.

This combination of culture, inclusion, and economic development aims to strengthen the sense of community and restore vitality to one of the city’s historic areas.

The Recreos Festival
As part of this wider process of transformation, the first Recreos Festival was held in June 2025. For three days, Via Palazzuolo and Via Maso Finiguerra were transformed into a large open-air urban laboratory, with cultural activities, artistic performances, opportunities for community engagement, and a traditional neighborhood dinner, inviting residents and visitors to rediscover the potential of this part of Florence.

The festival also marked the opening of Spazio Recreos, a permanent point of reference for the neighborhood, designed to host temporary exhibitions, local services, and cultural initiatives throughout the year.

Experiencing a more authentic Florence
At Antica Torre Tornabuoni, we believe that getting to know Florence also means meeting the people who keep its extraordinary artisan tradition alive every day.

Projects such as Recreos show that preserving the city’s heritage does not mean caring only for its monuments. It also means creating the conditions that allow historic crafts to remain part of everyday life.

By walking along streets such as Via Palazzuolo, visitors have the opportunity to discover a less touristy and more authentic side of Florence, where creativity, tradition, and innovation continue to exist side by side, just as they have for centuries in the heart of Tuscany.