 |
Feb.27,2005 -Mar.6,2005 |
Transcendent within Forms
Master architect work of Carlo Scarpa blended past and present design ideas
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2003-09-14
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the passing of celebrated Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa, whose inspired work provided a valuable counterpoint to the prevailing modernism of the 20th century and who has influenced succeeding generations of architects and designers. One of his master works, the Brion Tomb near Treviso, "has become a place of architectural pilgrimage," wrote architecture critic Lilli Hollein recently.
It seems that Scarpa was always battling the prevailing tides. Soon after opening his own office in 1931 while in his mid-20s, he temporarily abandoned architecture after reportedly coming under intense criticism for his contemporary updates of historic building designs. Architecture's loss became the gain of Italian glass design, however. Hooking up with good friend Paolo Venini of the Venini glassworks company on Murano, Scarpa spent 20 years producing innovative art glass designs which re-defined the field. But his passion for building design slowly returned to the forefront of his work and by the late 1940s - when he ended his work with Venini - the architectural community was ready to receive Scarpa's unique interplay of the present with the past.
His first major recognition came with his early 1950s restoration of Palazzo Abatellis, a 15th century building which housed the Galleria Nazionale della Sicilia at Palermo. The Scarpa trademarks were in place: an interplay of opposing elements, attention to spatial arrangement and light, an obsessive attention to beautiful detail and the presentation of architecture as a narrative. He followed up the Palermo work with a revitalization of the interior design of Museo Castelvecchio at Verona. The original building was constructed in the 14th century. Criticized early in his career for restoration work, Scarpa had clearly developed an approach which seamlessly integrated past and present elements to create unique designs indicating the instincts of a master architect. "The measures he takes in the building itself are like the careful retouching of a painting," architecture critic Ruth Hanisch has written. "They can always be distinguished from the original work, but they blend well into the overall picture."
Page 1/...Page 2
|
| Home / Back to Top |
|
|
 |
|
|
</ td>
