Tepidarium

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Tepidarium by Giacomo Roster, 1878
Giardino dell'Orticultura (Horticultural Garden)
Via Bolognese
Florence, April 2017

“In 1880, the Italian Horticultural Federation chose the Horticultural Garden of Florence as the venue for the First National Exhibition. For the occasion, the Tuscan Horticultural Society sponsored the construction of a large tepidarium capable of sheltering the plants from subtropical and temperate climates. This is without a doubt the garden’s most spectacular structure. Realised by the Officine Michelucci of Pistoia on a project by architect Giacomo Roster, the work constituted an extraordinary example of architecture in iron and glass that was emerging on the national panorama. The daring building with its metal structure supported by 24 cast-iron columns is situated more or less on the spot where the ‘Chinese Pavilion’ had stood only a few years before. The tepidarium stimulated the interest for botanical research and experimentation in greenhouse cultivating.” (Horticultural Garden, Scientific Itineraries in Tuscany)