Italo Gamberini
The 4-star “Glance” is one of the best examples of design hotels in Florence. The credit goes to the wise architectural and stylistic choices made over the years starting from the very origins of the building that now houses the hotel.
In fact, the Glance Hotel is located in a historic building built during 1957 to a design by renowned architect Italo Gamberini, author among others of the design of the traveler's building of the Florence Santa Maria Novella Station, the Regional Headquarters of RAI in Florence, the State Archives in Florence, the Center for Contemporary Art Luigi Pecci in Prato, and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Pisa.
The building is an authentic Florentine symbol because it is one of the best-known architectural achievements in the city.
It was built to replace pre-existing buildings by being part of a broad plan to redevelop Via Nazionale.
It is one of the best examples of the incorporation of modern architecture into a historic context. The importance and greatness of the work is evidenced by the interest shown at the time by the most attentive and rigorous critics, as well as by the In/Arch award.
The award was given in 1963 to the architect Gamberini together with the client, the construction company and the company producing the exterior fixtures.
The most striking and distinctive feature of the building is the formal and technological quality of the system of openings and the elevation on Via Nazionale.
The quality of the details, the design of the materials and the naturalness of their combination stand out. In fact, aluminum fixtures, reinforced concrete structure, glass-cement eaves, ceramic cladding and plaster finishes coexist harmoniously in the structure.
A style that is also preserved in the interior, especially in the stairwell. Here the iron and glass ramp is juxtaposed with a thermolux glass window.
A series of bold but winning architectural and stylistic choices that still characterize the building and the hotel itself.
All this, together with the attention to detail, the iconic reworking of famous Renaissance sculptures found on every floor, the design choices in furnishings, and the originality and versatility of the common areas, makes the “Glance” an authentic modern hotel in Florence.
