Among the most original elements in Aldo Rossi’s design for the La Fenice Theatre are the profound transformation and evolution of the single parts making up the theatre, and the desire to create links between the theatre and the Veneto, going beyond the city of Venice. The design takes on contemporary compositional, architectonic and urban themes and combines philology, restoration, innovation and new building work. The surrounding city is in itself a theatre and the La Fenice is conceived as a small city with recognisable parts making up its whole. This complex design is summed up in the extraordinary beauty and richness of the details in the section drawn in freehand by Aldo Rossi himself, using the basis of technical boards: a long sequence which summarises the meaning of each single element in the whole theatre design. The main façade, in campo San Fantin, leads into the Sale Apollinee which have been divided up so as to highlight the restored parts, the smaller rooms and the decorated ceiling; the Sala Nuova, with its Palladian element, is the centre of the structure between the Sale Apollinee and the completely rebuilt theatre itself; from here the stage looks over the sectioned boxes, the stalls and the understalls: at centre stage the lost curtain with its Victory of Lepanto symbolises the historical reconstruction of this part of the theatre.

The building housing the stage machinery closes the sequence towards the waterfront. As part of this important reconstruction, Molteni&C designed and furnished various furnishings for the theatre, creating a wooden box inside this prestigious container: boxes, panelling, ceilings. The furnishings consist of seats, entrance furniture and foyer seating. The realistic Palladian basilica designed by Aldo Rossi for the Sala Nuova was particularly complex. Completely in solid non-treated cypress, which gives off its natural perfume, the woodworking includes the six-metre high section and the balcony with turned columns and beams in keeping with Palladian style. The careful workmanship and assembly were fundamental in guaranteeing absolute precision in the jointing, so as to allow flooring, engraving and the addition of special decoration.