Lovers of Venice are also lovers of Carlo Scarpa. And even if they know nothing about the Italian architect born in 1906 and died in 1978, they follow his little-known work, this strange mix between the past and modernism. In St. Mark’s Square, they look, astonished, through the window of the Olivetti Showroom, its staircase made of marble pallets. At the Querini Stampalia Foundation they observe the astonishing and clever system designed to protect the hall of the palazzo from possible aqua alta, when the water level in the lagoon rises. In the Giardini, crowded these days with the opening of the Venice Biennale, the Venezuela pavilion surprises with its concrete and bay windows. In short, Carlo Scarpa is everywhere in Venice.
But like any great master, he constantly surprises. Like the city that saw him born. The evidence at the end of an alley not far from the Basilica dei Frari and Ca’Foscari University. You have to ring the bell, pass through a discreet gate and there you have the little wonder, the kind that the lagoon knows how to provoke so well. Here, the Parisian gallery Negropontes, which is accustomed to mixing design, artistic crafts and contemporary creation, opened an branch at the end of March, in a 17th century palace.e century whose interior was designed by Carlo Scarpa.
But first, the view: the Grand Canal which unfolds in all its splendor, the axis of the building making us see less of the palaces opposite than of the water itself, giving the illusion of floating. The building is a palazzina, a small private hotel. And its story is, indeed, special. In the middle of the 20th centurye century, the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright had imagined a complete renovation of the premises, and dreamed of making it a place of reception and a guest house for the students of the University Institute of Architecture of Venice (IUAV) .
At the helm, engineer Paolo Masieri, who had decided to open a foundation in memory of his son Angelo, a young architect who died in a car accident at the age of 31. The project, undoubtedly too ambitious because it modified the exterior of the building, did not receive the blessing of the municipality of Venice. Other projects are postponed.
A sassy, strange, baroque touch
In 1968, Carlo Scarpa entered the dance. He plans to renovate only the interior and leave the facade intact. Work began in 1972 and was completed in 1983, five years after his death. For forty years, the place remained dormant. “Venice is a city where past, present and future intersect,” believes Sophie Negropontes.
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