Theatre del Te, Palazzo del Te, Isola del Te, Mantua: detail showing the suspended anchorage cable from the old wall to the seating and handrail

NOTES: This was a conversion of the stable block of the Palazzo del Te (1535 by Giulio Romano) by the architect Adolfo Poltronieri into a lecture theatre. Earlier, in 1984, the same architect had created an exhibitiion gallery in the attic above the vaulted ceilings of the main rooms of the Palazzo. The design of the lecture theatre was largely shaped by the desire to preserve and reveal what existed, in this case, the original brick and pebble floor. Hence the banked seating and stairs have been suspended from the walls above. See RIBA130424 for a black and white version of this image.