carlo scarpa: architectural craftsmanship

since I studied Carlo Scarpa for my 102 project,  it would be a waste not to share my findings. so, here it goes;

Scarpa was a prominent Italian architect; known for his architectural craftmanship and immaculate attention to details. here is my write-up of his biography;

He is a true prodigy of details, reflecting intrinsic beauty of joints and connections. He is an artisan of materiality, revealing concrete and stone with perfect chamfers. He taught at Venice University’s School of Architecture, but himself never officially an architect.

His works like Brion Cemetery and Castelvecchio Museum are mutineers within decoration, a quality never achieved by neither Baroque and Rococo. He had his own team of builders, each dedicated to their own skills; joinery, steel, concrete and stucco. Yet Scarpa never saw completion in his works, but always in progress.

He profoundly adore the play of water, himself being a Venetian architect – a city above tiding rivers. His love for Japanese Zen garden inspires him, how simplicity and details juxtaposes within lush greenery of grass through harmonic organization of pebbles.

well, as the usual way of studying an architect’s thoughts, I would study three of his best works. In Scarpa’s case; these are Castelvecchio, Brion Cemetery and Querini Stampalia.

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Castelvecchio was a castle in ruins before Scarpa was commissioned to restore it as a museum.

Scarpa then used modern materials to renovate Castelvecchio, the result is a suprisingly harmonical composition between old and new.

 I think that restoration is actually one of the hardest challenges for an architect. I mean we were so used to building something anew from scratch, rather building upon the old structures. Most architects will rather demolish existing structures on a given site rather than putting them into good use. Now that’s one talent of Scarpa.

as I’ve said before Scarpa’s attention to details is wonderful. Here’s how he designed his own railings.

and look at how he build the stairs accomodated to left and right steps that lead towards the old Castelvecchio.

Nevertheless, the best part of Castelvecchio is the so-called Cangrande space. The platform is suspended within the old structure using new materials; giving a vast view of the valley. The various modern materials chosen are designed to juxtapose the old wall in ruins while adding a layer of current historical fabric into the existing ones.

and the equestrian statue of Cangrande, symbol of the town was positioned to seemingly overlook and guard the valley. 

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Brion Cemetery, probably the best signature work of Scarpa. The cemetery designed for the Brion family is designed as a garden consisting of several pavillions. The overlapping circle, even embleming eternal love cannot contest the true meaning which is to frame the view of the grass field with the horizon beyond.

The horizon visual effect I’ve mentioned earlier is deliberately done with the inclined barrier.

Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be able to justify Brion Tomb is I did not describe the element water. Born as Venetian, water is one of the greatest elements of Carlo Scarpa’s architecture. The cemetery is carved with a series of everflowing canals; sometimes flowing aside the path and sometimes;

within a pond surrounding the steps and pavillion.

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Querini Stampalia is another restoration work by Scarpa, and which I don’t deny as my favorite work of his.

designed also as a gallery; this particular space do not just highlight the artworks of an exhibition, it is also a showcase of materiality. the wall and floor; lined with occassional brass, is in fact a delightful composition.

and look at the concealed rustic door. the way the door opens and close is probably one of a kind; simply elegant.

again the new staircase was partly built over the existing ones, revealing how the previous staircase looks like to current observers.

however, the most encapsulating part of Querini Stampalia is water. yes, again water.

you see, this building is in Venice, the city above rivers. so when the tide arrives; the water level rises. and not as most architects do, Carlo Scarpa invited water into the gallery rather than trying hard to keep them out. the water flows unto the space; where these low steps slowly indicating the rise of water.

the water then flows into the back of the building, which is designated as a small garden. and this is where such moment intensifies.

the flow of water is designed in such a way it flows slowly; in which observers will be visually engaged.

and it is this kind of attention that makes the gallery, delightful. the way the water flows into the circular plate; it produces the sound of water stream which is heard throughout the garden. now, that is what I call, Carlo Scarpa’s architecture.

“If craft is the soul of architecture, then Carlo Scarpa is indeed, the undoubtly legend of architectural craftsmanship.” – Lee Yang Yang