Carlo Scarpa was a prominent Italian architect previously active during the early twentieth century and one of the pioneers of modernism in architectural design. He was born in 1906 in the beautiful city of Venice, a place well-known for its old Renaissance architectures, majestic canals, and gondolas. By the time he was only two years of age, his entire family migrated to Vicenza, a county part situated on the northeastern part of the Italian peninsula. It was here that he spent much of his early childhood to teenage years; he also attended a local high school specializing in technical education. When he was 13 years old, the family returned once again to their old Venetian hometown after the death of Scarpa’s mother. It was here that he further expanded the boundaries of his education interests specifically in architecture. In 1919, Scarpa was admitted to become a fine arts student; thus, encouraging his talent and association in the design league. Scarpa honed his talent by working to different planning departments to further enhance his knowledge of organizational design and various architectural styles in cities. By 1925, he was commissioned by Giacomo Cappellin to redesign and restore the Palazzo da Mula, the main headquarters of Capellin’s glassmaking business. Carlo Scarpa remained associated with this glassmaking firm for many years until its closure in 1932. As a result, he ended up working as an artistic director for Venini’s company where he remained for 15 years1.
Aside from furniture designing, Scarpa’s interests in architecture spanned from observing the works of major architects of the Modernist period such as Frank Lloyd Wright. His designs were radical and can be considered as modern in a sense that the majority of his works did not reflect the old styles of the previous design movements; rather, Scarpa’s genius in architecture re-designing allowed him to utilize the old design elements of the Baroque and Romantic period into his some works without reverting to excessive over-design; elegant yet functional. Furthermore, what makes him a radical architect was the fact that he crossed the borders of architecture designing to the point where he borrowed Oriental elements and incorporated them into his own designs to produce simplified versions that can stand the passage of time. In other words, Scarpa’s architecture did not only resembled nor mimic the styles of the Modernist faction but rather his works implicitly suggests that works of art should endure the test of time wherein the objects made by the architect should be able to adapt to its new and changing environment despite the fact that it was created many years in the past.2 Although many people revered him as one of the pioneers of the modernist architecture, he was never considered an ‘architect’ because of his rejection to take a government licensure exam; therefore, he only remained addressed by his associates as ‘professor’ instead of the honorific related to his field of work. Throughout his life and career, Scarpa spent his whole life re-designing and working in his hometown until his death in 1978. He was already 72 years old. Carlo Scarpa’s works have been internationally recognized by award giving bodies and he received many awards as a result of his contributions in the field of architecture.3 In this paper, the rest of the works and analysis will be addressed.
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“Carlo Scarpa,” Copper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, accessed April 8, 2016, https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/people/18537489/bio
R. J. B. Bosworth, Italian Venice: A History, (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2014), Chapter 7, p. 158, https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=vOAhBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158&dq=carlos+scarpa+biography&source=bl&ots=Z69YsvUf-y&sig=9grX8V6Z-HmrFGlbnHtJWUXF7Yc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9itS5qv7LAhXiFaYKHSnaAGY4KBDoAQgZMAA#v=onepage&q=carlos%20scarpa%20biography&f=false
Nancy Hass, “Italy’s Lost Modernist Master,” The New York Times, March 8, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/t-magazine/design/carlo-scarpa-italys-modernist-architect.html
When Modernism began in the early 20th century, the society had been exposed to a tumultuous period in the history of art and architecture. With the growing radical philosophy of the rejection of decadence, artists found a way to express their support to oust the old method of building and designing; they found substitutes for the traditional materials and began exploring the products of the Industrial Revolution. The spur of machinery led the manufacture of glass and artists used this wonder material along with their knowledge in systematic architecture building to create innovative yet elegant works that can surpass the passage of time. Carlos Scarpa was one of the architects that explored new ways of creating buildings based from science and not solely from art and this resulted to his works labeled as both functional and decorative.
The Olivetti Showroom (c.1958)
Located within the vicinity of Piazza San Marco, One of the surviving finest Scarpa architectures never ceases to enthrall tourists with its simple, modernistic, and perfect combination of Western and Oriental tastes. The history of this building dates back in the 1958 when the Italian typewriter tycoon Adriano Olivetti, requested the services of Carlo Scarpa to build a showroom wherein the company can display the latest technological products they manufactured probably in the hopes of preserving and attracting potential buyers.4 The project began on the same year and in this work, anyone can see how Scarpa managed to blend the opposing elements smoothly as a whole. Dark brown teak panels, ribbed wooden door designs, spacious interiors, pale white furnishings, circular windows, and concrete. From its façade, the Olivetti Showroom can be seen as a concrete Western building complete with curved arches, metal gilded window and sign, and tile marble mosaic. Yet the main interiors of these showroom contrasts the bright Western elements. For instance, the circular windows of the Olivetti Showroom reflect the Japanese influence. These oval windows have their own wooden frames, complete with ribbed wooden screens. The spacious entrances mimic the design of Japanese temples; the ceiling above it was also made of brown wood panels arranged to fit the entire structure. The portico with its thick stone pillars separated with a fair distances from one another blends harmoniously with the Mediterranean tiles below. Meanwhile, in some parts of the showroom, the artist also used white colors in a similar fashion found in traditional Japanese houses to contrast the dark interiors. The white pigments covered the sections on the upper part of the walls which creates an ambience of serenity and quietness. The stairs leading to the second floor of the showroom were not arranged according to the regular fashion; instead, the stone landings do not have the same shapes and sizes yet despite the irregular arrangement of the steps, anyone can use them safely because the stone steps of the stairs were wide enough to accommodate the whole feet. This similar trait can also be seen on the floor tiles. Looking closely, the marble tiles were decorated with miniature red squares and yet, these squares do not present themselves similar to the other squares found on the tiles. Instead of a uniform cut, there were no repetitions of design found on Scarpa’s work. Because of his creativity and rejection of complying with the traditional styles which the society strictly followed. Based from his Olivetti Showroom, it seemed that Scarpa refused to incorporate repetition in his work. He also manifested an ambience of eternity through the minimal arrangements of furniture, simple interior decorations, and architectural styles to create a slow movement of time wherein audiences can linger for too long without being bombarded with too many designs. As Hamilton noted, “Positioning the sculptural pieces in nonlinear, asymmetrical organisations [sic] Scarpa slows down time, drawing the viewer to ‘wonder’ and ‘observe’ more, enhancing their experience and offering at every turn ‘new possibilities to see, to think, to feel and to listen.’”5
Therefore, the Olivetti Showroom is the Scarpa’s best examples of architecture that creates poetry even with the smallest details; in other words, it was Scarpa’s obsession with the miniature details enhanced by his knowledge of designs from other cultures that made him a one of the pioneers of the modernist period, an artist as Hass noted that do not really care whether his design might become entangled with the new architecture designs of the future. In this way, the Olivetti Showroom is timeless due to its revolutionary design and architecture.6
Venetian glass wares and wooden furniture
With the advent of modernity, mass production of commodities became easier than ever before. Glass, a formerly expensive commodity reserved only for the upper classes and for those who have a bit of extra money to spare became an affordable item all thanks to the machineries and the rapid industrialization. Scarpa’s experience in the glass making industry allowed him to further explore his knowledge and talents in glass designing. Some of his glass works also convey the minimalist theme combined with geometrical patterns. Like the tile works, the glass designs utilizes miniature patterns without following the uniformed arrangement and sizes; the clear glass designs were simple and without excessive adornments. The shapes of the glass wares were simple shapes such as circular glass vases with elongated bodies, slender columns notably found on the square glass vases. The artist also used polychromatic color schemes such as deep scarlet, yellows, black, and greens to color his works. However, the artist also created various clear glass wares that do not have any coloring at all. Aside from glass ware, Scarpa also had talents in furniture designing. Some of the furniture he made became relics of the modernity and its impact on the designs of the artists. When the Modern age began, this became the end to the obnoxious decadence of the past regimes. Instead, this age welcomed the arrival and exploration of new materials and perspectives of designs. For example, Scarpa once drew a sketch about the plan for the table consisting of plywood and timber. The design was actually a detailed process in which the artist tried to create a detachable table for Luigi Nono; in his innovative design, there no adornments, only the plain structure of the wooden table.
“the top is composed of one layer of plywood divided in three parts, which can be easily mounted and demounted by simply sliding the central part and lifting the side parts, and is not held in place by screws or nails but relies for its stability simply on the precise alignment of its parts wedging into one another. The detail of the top of the leg shows a protruding cylinder preventing the side sections of the tabletop from sliding off.”7
On every leg columns, hinges and screws were attached in order to bend the legs; thus, when not in use, the table can be stored in a small storage since its entire structure was made to be detachable unlike the common stationary tables. Scarpa’s designs revealed his meticulous interest in step-by-step process of building materials systematically. The glass wares, the Olivetti Showroom, and the table he designed for his comrade were the finest examples of a modern-minimalist influence in architecture and design. With his talent and help of his previous experiences, he managed to create innovative designs for the future.
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Igor Fracalossi, “AD Classics: AD Classics: Olivetti Showroom / Carlo Scarpa,” Architecture Daily, last modified August 24, 2011, http://www.archdaily.com/155074/ad-classics-olivetti-showroom-carlos-scarpa/
Federica Goffi-Hamilton, “Carlo Scarpa and the eternal canvas of silence,” Architectural Research Quarterly 10, no. 3-4 (2006): 295, doi: 10.1017/S1359135506000406
Nancy Hass, “Italy’s Lost Modernist Master,” The New York Times, March 8, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/t-magazine/design/carlo-scarpa-italys-modernist-architect.html
Federica Goffi-Hamilton, “Carlo Scarpa and the eternal canvas of silence,” 293-294
Tranquil Modernist Landscapes
Perhaps Scarpa had been one of the underrated architects of the Modern period. Only those who have seen his works and from the academic and design industry had the chance to see some of his exquisite landscapes. What makes his landscapes so attractive was the simplicity in which the arrangement of structures and the garden itself brings out the harmonious balance between nature and the man-made structures. The scholar George Dodds presented a document that showcases the some of the examples of the landscapes created by Scarpa during the height of his career. For example, in the Museo di Castelvecchio, the building façade resembled the designs of the medieval Italian villa situated in an isolated place. The landscape designed by Scarpa complimented the simplified courtyard of the building. The garden layout follows a straight line with semi-abstract designs of elevated mounds of soil patched with blankets of greenery on them. The straight pattern places an emphasis on the building’s design as it directs the viewers’ vision towards the building first and second to the straight roads.8 Furthermore, in the Fusina Camping, the structures are covered by the trees; hence, from the entranceway, the buildings are not that visible unless people will go inside and look to them closely. Perhaps, another common denominator that the Fusina Camping shares with the Museo di Castelvecchio was the fact that it is a place that is composed of many roads. These roads are strategically arranged so that the audiences’ view will be able to focus on the structures located on the front.
“On grade at Fusina, Scarpa presents the visitor with a landscape disguised as a campground, the focus of which is highly structured views ostensibly climaxing in a framed vista of industrial Venice. From the observation platform however, Scarpa interests the visitor less with the view of Venice than with the borrowed views of the lagoon and the varied history-laden landscape beyond the property lines of the campgrounds.”9
The landscapes created by Scarpa also illustrate the Modern minimalist designs due to their lack of excessive adornments and balanced arrangements. Balanced in the sense that the elements such as the roads and the buildings complement each other; the lack of excessive non-functional designs allows the viewers’ to shift from one design to another and focus on the large scale buildings on the front of the road, therefore emphasizing the building’s style. Additionally, Scarpa employed abstract elements to make his design unique and contrasts to another Modernist architects. For example, the landscape of the Brion Sanctuary was toned down to the simplified green lawn; the buildings characterized by bizarre repetitions of squares, columns with flutes, and grey pavements. In this work, the muted background consisting of the green lawn provides a chiaroscuro in which the light color of the grey concrete contrasts with the color of the dark grass lawn. The architecture of the Brion Sanctuary was also a minimalist because of the wide spacious façade and the interiors. The only design that dominates the entire structure was the ribbed door frames, ceilings with openings on the central nave to allow the passage of the natural light. The interiors of the sanctuary also used some Japanese design elements such as the circular windows and doors commonly found on the Japanese tea houses and traditional residences. The windows clear glass panes resembled the Japanese shoji windows. Based from the designs (interior and exterior) it is true that Scarpa had borrowed many elements from Oriental cultures and combined them with the Classical European designs to produce a unique modernist architecture that has the elegance of in which the aesthetic beauty is emphasized by the lack or reduced design in order for the viewers’ to let their thoughts roam freely and relax their eyes just by simply viewing the architecture. Somehow, Scarpa’s designs can be linked to the works of Louis Henry Sullivan, an architect often linked with the Modernist movement. Just like Scarpa, Sullivan’s work utilized many abstract elements, muted interiors, and toned designs. However, what makes his work different from Scarpa was the fact that Scarpa often based his works on the simple layouts found on the Asian buildings and never put any decorative ornamentation on the façade of the building. For instance, the Prudential Guaranty Building located on the busy street of New York. From a far, the building does not inhibit any design on its surface but looking closely, one can see that intricate and highly detailed carvings resembling the designs of the European Baroque and Romantic periods. The building is supported by slender columns arranged with wide intervals away from another to instill balance on the work. Curved archways and the curved window frames somehow resemble the designs from the Renaissance. Furthermore, if Scarpa’s interior lacked the ornamentations, Sullivan’s showcased them by putting a lot of decorations on the interiors. The colors he used were mostly earth tones made up of bronze, brown, and yellowish tints. While muted marble tiles of sandstone design complements the decorative interiors. In other words, what Scarpa had rejected, in this case the knack for displaying interior adornments, Sullivan picked it up to enhance the aesthetic quality of his work. However, these designs are not functional unlike Scarpa’s for it only meant for pleasing the eye.11 As a conclusion, the Modernist period brought new challenges to the artists such as Scarpa and Sullivan to demonstrate their talents in creating modern buildings that can survive the passage of time; modern in a sense that these structures will be able to adapt to the future society with its innovative design based on scientific perspectives rather than artistic expression.
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George Dodds, “Directing Vision in the Landscapes and Gardens of Carlo Scarpa,” Journal of Architectural Education 57, no. 3 (2004): 31, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425778
Ibid., 33
Ibid., 32-33
Harry G. Meyer and Jason Haremza, “Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building,” Hodgson Russ Attorneys, accessed April 8, 2016, http://www.hodgsonruss.com/Louis-Sullivans-Guaranty-Building.html
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bosworth, R.J.B. Italian Venice: A History. New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 2014. https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=vOAhBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA158&lpg=PA158&dq=carlos+scarpa+biography&source=bl&ots=Z69YsvUf-y&sig=9grX8V6Z-HmrFGlbnHtJWUXF7Yc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9itS5qv7LAhXiFaYKHSnaAGY4KBDoAQgZMAA#v=onepage&q=carlos%20scarpa%20biography&f=false
“Carlo Scarpa.” Copper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. Accessed April 8, 2016. https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/people/18537489/bio
Dodds, George. “Directing Vision in the Landscapes and Gardens of Carlo Scarpa.” Journal of Architectural Education 57, no. 3 (2004): 30-38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1425778
Fracalossi, Igor. “AD Classics: AD Classics: Olivetti Showroom / Carlo Scarpa.” Architecture Daily. Last modified August 24, 2011. http://www.archdaily.com/155074/ad-classics-olivetti-showroom-carlos-scarpa/
Hamilton, Federica Goffi. “Carlo Scarpa and the eternal canvas of silence.” Architectural Research Quarterly 10, no. 3-4 (2006): 291-300. doi: 10.1017/S1359135506000406
Hass, Nancy. “Italy’s Lost Modernist Master.” The New York Times. Last modified March 8, 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/t-magazine/design/carlo-scarpa-italys-modernist-architect.html
Meyer, Harry G., and Jason Haremza. “Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building.” Hodgson Russ Attorneys. Accessed April 8, 2016, http://www.hodgsonruss.com/Louis-Sullivans-Guaranty-Building.html
