Under commission from the Grassis, a wealthy Venetian family of merchants and shiphandlers, the architect Massari designed the palace around 1740. 
Completed 20 years later, it served varied purposes: sumptuous home, hotel, etc. Fiat S.p.A. acquired Palazzo Grassi in the spring of 1984. The restoration, begun in early 1985, was entrusted to the architects Gae Aulenti and Antonio Foscari. 
Since then seat of international renowned exhibitions, such as: Futurism and Futurisms, Jean Tinguely, The Phoenicians, Andy Warhol, The Celts, The Maya.
François Pinault had hired Tadao Ando to carry out the remodeling of the Palazzo Grassi. Tadao Ando adopted a plain, minimal, self-contained look that plays off the existing style without interfering with it.