Venice: Guided Carlo Scarpa Architecture Tour – Venice, Italy

EXPERIENCE:

The first destination of your tour is the Olivetti Showroom in St. Mark’s Square. This is a modern example of the interaction between both inner and outer space in architecture. The showroom recreates the theme of water by using a few decoration “devices”. These include a trickle of water flowing down an ornamental fountain on the ground floor, and tiny colored glass tiles which cover the floor. These tiles reflect the light by producing the flickering water effect that characterizes the surface of St. Mark’s Square in times of high tide.

Large windows flood the showroom with light that reverberates on the fountain’s water and the gray-purplish wall stucco. Floor colors also gradually fade off as the distance from the windows increases. The showroom is decorated using local materials, such as glass, marble, stone, and wood, which are beautifully juxtaposed to create a stylish ambience for the display of Olivetti typewriters. These machines from the 1950s and 1960s are exhibited as if they were “jewels in a museum”.

Carlo Scarpa’s search for harmony between natural elements and architectural space is best illustrated at Venice’s Querini Stampalia Foundation, which is the next destination on your tour. Carlo Scarpa reinforced the building and renovated both the entrance hall of the museum and the palace’s garden. He regained control over an open portion of the building, which had been left in disuse due to it being regularly flooded.

Scarpa raised the area from the ground floor and transformed it into a walkway for the palace’s visitors. Water entering the ground floor was contained by a parapet wall and channeled into the rear garden. Thanks to this solution, water acquires an aesthetic value, while harmoniously coexisting with the other architectural elements of the building. This modern re-visitation of an ancient building makes the former Querini Stampalia residence a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

Discover Carlo Scarpa through Venice’s architecture
Learn how to look at water and light from a new perspective
Explore the masterpieces of 19th-century architecture in Venice
Gain an insight into Venice’s modern art and beauty

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