Thirty-nine mature trees would spend each summer on a floating platform in the Arno River in Florence. Before autumn floods arrive, the platform would come apart and the trees would return to municipal nurseries.
Firenze Little Island is a floating island proposal from Renna Studio, a research and design practice based in Prato, Italy. The project was developed by the studio and architect Angelo Renna. It describes a demountable, seasonal public platform for the river, not a permanent structure.
How the island would be built
The site sits along the Pescaia weir, where the water flow is regulated. The platform would use prefabricated floating pontoons, a grid of timber beams and a timber deck. Each module can be installed and removed as part of lightweight, reversible floating architecture.
Floating platforms that open riverside space to the public have precedents elsewhere, such as Bjarke Ingels Group’s floating terraces for Tirana, which show how water-edge public design can work.
A segmented circular planter ring, about 1 meter (3.3 feet) high, surrounds the open-air deck. It holds the 39 trees. The planters act as a boundary and a buffer. According to coverage by Designboom, cited by the Italian outlet Futuroprossimo, the shade and air movement from the trees would soften the microclimate on the deck.
Submerged cables would tie the platform to the riverbed. That arrangement lets it rise and fall with the water level. A footbridge would connect the platform to the riverbank, where a path already links the river to the city.
Uses and calendar
The design plans for four uses of the same ring: open-air concerts, fitness, a market and a meeting place. Designboom also mentions orchestral performances. The proposed season runs from May to September, when the Arno is calmer.
The schedule depends on the river. Each autumn, the pontoons, decking and planters would be taken apart, moved and stored. The trees would stay in municipal nurseries until the platform is reassembled the following spring.
A proposal that stalled
The project started in 2024 with backing from the city council, according to Designboom. In early 2026, the regional heritage superintendent, Antonella Ranaldi, expressed support. Municipal plans have since paused.
Ranaldi spoke about the idea on 11 April 2026 at an event in Florence, according to the Italian newspaper La Nazione. She said she would like to see a temporary floating island from spring to autumn, with concerts and shows on the water.
Four days later, former Uffizi director Eike Schmidt, now in opposition on the Palazzo Vecchio council, called the plan madness. Schmidt said the island could cost tens of millions of euros. He did not cite a source for that figure. The Designboom coverage cited by Futuroprossimo does not include a cost estimate.
Schmidt also argued that the platform would clash with the European Landscape Convention, signed in Florence in 2000. He warned that a large obstruction in the river could raise flood risks for the city. If a section broke loose during high water, he said, it could strike the Ponte Vecchio or the Uffizi. He also credited Mayor Sara Funaro with first raising the idea during her election campaign two years earlier.
The river and the calendar do not yet agree. Ranaldi described a spring-to-autumn season. The design sets its window from May to September. Schmidt spoke of floods without naming a season. This year marks 60 years since the 1966 Arno flood, and the proposal would already have the island in storage by then.
Reshaping a shoreline for a major public project raises similar questions about cost and environmental impact, as seen in the large land reclamation along Denmark’s coast for a tunnel build.
For now, the 39 trees have a winter address in the municipal nurseries. The summer location for the island on the Arno still needs approval.
Source: designboom.com
Frequently asked questions
How many trees would the Florence floating island carry?
The Firenze Little Island proposal would carry 39 mature trees. They would sit in a segmented circular planter ring, about 1 meter high, that surrounds the open-air deck.
How would the floating island be built and anchored in the Arno?
The platform would use prefabricated floating pontoons, a grid of timber beams and a timber deck. Submerged cables would tie it to the riverbed so it can rise and fall with the water level, and a footbridge would connect it to the riverbank.
What happens to the floating island and trees during autumn and winter?
The proposed season runs from May to September. Each autumn, the pontoons, decking and planters would be taken apart and stored, and the trees would stay in municipal nurseries until the platform is reassembled the following spring.
Has the Florence floating island proposal been approved yet?
No, the proposal has not been approved. Municipal plans have paused, and the summer location on the Arno still needs approval, although regional heritage superintendent Antonella Ranaldi has expressed support.
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