Paolo Fiumi – Gondi, a Florentine Dynasty and Its Palace

The Florentine architect not only oversaw the writing of the book “Gondi, a Florentine Dynasty and Its Palace” together with Gabriele Morolli, but also followed every stage of the restoration and compliance works on the Palace, which lasted six long years! Living in close contact with the owners, Bernardo and Vittoria Gondi and their sons Gerardo and Lapo, he came to know them intimately and to learn anecdotes and stories from the life of the previous owner, Amerigo Gondi, known in the family as Bibi. He therefore took on the contemporary section, recounting both the difficult and delicate restorations and the story of the present owners, exacting and meticulous as they are. In doing so he completed the opening part introduced by Marco Calafati on the family’s early history.

The architect Paolo Fiumi, a pupil of Gabriele Morolli, specialises in the recovery and conservative restoration of buildings of historic heritage, designing interiors and gardens as well. Among the buildings he has worked on are the Castle Complex of Castagneto Carducci (Livorno) and the properties of the Castello di Brolio, at Gaiole in Chianti (Siena). As a set designer, he created the sets for the Teatro Comunale in Florence for Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” in 2005 and Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” in 2013. In 2009 he collaborated with the video artist and musician Letizia Renzini at the VI Dance Biennale in Venice on the sets for “Bambola di Carne”, and in 2006 he received a creativity award for the design of a “green” pavilion for the sound garden “La Limonaia dell’Imperialino”, at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in London.

Alongside his work as an architect and set designer, Paolo Fiumi cultivates a passion for drawing and illustration; he has published for Pitti Immagine the volume “Personaggi e Interpreti, fashion sketchbook” for the fiftieth anniversary of Fashion in Florence, in the Sala Banca of Palazzo Pitti. Since 2012 his drawings have appeared in the fabric and scarf collections of the textile brand “Faliero Sarti”. He then illustrated the little volume of memories, scents, flavours and atmospheres written by Vittoria Gondi Citernesi, “La Natura in Tavola, Fattoria di Volmiano, ricette e segreti”, Edizioni Sarnus.

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