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Scarpa Compressed Compressed PDF

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Maria Jessica Oliveira
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——————————————————— | 9 Carlo Scarpa and the Adoration of the Joint “Tese ove only some ofthe thoughts evoked by bringing together plllosapy and architec: ‘ture undor the sign of interoretation, and I rete thet thy ar cry hit, abarve Bugg ‘ions may be recessiry 10 ake someting else hto 2ecount name. thet esation | ‘nas two principal meannge-te but and fo be meray upAing. Beth are quite lowely tind in today's rather vertignoue coming and going betwenn architecture and phoseahy, | “sofas a8 on8 con indvidute evan ramote shndaction Between the two That i, aca tion must be ethicat entaiing commeniction of valve choices. nthe present situation of thought the one hand aad architectonic experience an the otter {we shall consider ths 4 provaiona! and limited conchaion, the ony posabity of edifying in the sonae of bud ing isto ect inthe sense of “rendering ethica,” that, © encourage an ethical We: to ‘work withthe recodeeton of tractians, withthe traces ofthe past, withthe expectations ‘of meaning for the future, snc there can ne longer be abscivt rational deductions. ‘Thare follows then edifiewtion as fostering of emotions, of ethical presentabity, which can pratabiy serve asthe basis fer a architecture which is determined net by the whole ‘ut bythe parts ‘Gan van, 1987 ‘The work of Carlo Scarpa (1996-1978) may be seen as a watershed in the evolu- tion of twentiets-century architecture, not oniy for the ermphasis that he placed ‘upon the joit but also for his particular use of mortage as 2 strategy for inte- rating heterogeneous elements. Throughout his work, the joint is treated as a kind of tectonic Condensation, a an intersection embodying the whole in the ‘part, Irespective of whether the connection in question Is an articulation ora Dearing or even an altogether larger linking component such as a stair ora bridge. Al of this is immediately apparent in Scarpa’s fest work of consequence, ‘the renovation and reorganization of the Fondazione Guerini Stampala in Vore= ‘ce, completed in 1953. In this instance, a sterectomic earthwork, laid Into the Lundercroft of a siateenth-century palace, is accessad by a ightweight bridge that acts as a kind of feted hinge between the tera firma of the campo and the transformed shell of the palazzo fig. @.1). |e contrast to this lightweight, flat arch resting on stone abutments, Scarpa renders the earthwork as a monolithic concrete tray (ig. 9.2. Separated trom the existing wits, tis tay serves not only to contain but alto to represent the ‘seasonal flooding of the cy This shafow concrete walkway, paved wth tes, ‘erbadies the vacitions of Venica in more ways than one, fst by containing the ‘20q4a alta and second by affording direct gondola access through the existing ‘portage.’ The ceremonial nature ofthis last is impiind by @ winding wir de- ‘scending tothe canal and by openwork omemental gates, dressed in rete, ‘hat tthe twin-arched openings ofthe portico (ig. 9.3). n this way, Scarpa ar- ranges for two complemertary entries: an everyday passage fom the cameo via a delicately articulated bridge, and a more honorifc approach from the wa ‘er; an approsch that in ts symbolic obsolescence isan elaborate reminder of the original mode of entering the palace. As Maria Antonietta Crippa has re- ‘marked, the whole ofthis sequence is treated as akind of thoe-dinsensional tntay ‘The small entrance hall—its mosaic floor reminiscent of a design by Joseph ‘Albers that Scarpa trad crignally intended to reproduce—gives onto @ marble- ressed staircase leading to the brary and also onto @ gangway above the qty —_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—>_—>——:£{£=:—:_=x=x=x=—_—_———— ‘entrance aree tht leads into the great halen bre ground foo opposite the portage. The stone gargway crossing the portego is. almost ike a bridge over Joking the iagoon; from tone can see the et and ow of water plying into the cistarns placed on vanous levels. A sheet of glass separates this angway from the great hal, The radiators in the greet hall are concealed within 2 paral- \elpiped with gokien nes and glass panels fitting into each other, which has ‘a geornotic simiarty to the mosaic in the entrance hal. Seventeenth century mouldings and remnants of wal, clewty distinct from modern additions, ae vi ite throughout ‘Scarpa’s characteristic use of revetment makes itself evident hee inthe traver- tine ining to the waits of the great hal, wher, apart trom the rational use of ‘sions cladding, there is the suggestion of a metonymic exchange between ‘wood and masonry; between wood as itis employed inthe deck and handrail of ‘he brioge and travertine a is aid up agains the wals ol the exhéston space {, 94), Stone thus appears in two aspects; inthe frst simply as cladding and in the second as hed of “wood,” where tis ised, ils, and hinged so ZEN kf sy though it were petified cabinetwork, Such a reading is implied by a slotted ‘brass rail, let into the stone cladding to form a horizontal groove at eye height. {or the purposes of hanging pictures. This material interplay is enhanced by 10- contimeter-wide, ground-giass panels set flush wath the travertine ravatment. As translucent covers to neon tubos, these luminous accents run across the wall 1ike.a descant, echoing similar modulation in the concrete floor that Is sub vided by strips of Istrian stone of the same wisth. These transiucent cover plates constitute @ sees of vertical accents that double up in pas as they run ‘down the depth of the space. Scarpa may have derived this syncopated ar- rangement in part from the Neoplasticist wall relief that Theo van Doesburg de- ‘signed for the Cale Aubette in 1926 (fg. 9.5) and wm part from Le Corbusier's ‘proportional eystom, 28 published in his book Le Modular twenty years later (Fo. 98), ‘Stone treated as cabinatwork is also evident in the hingad door to the side gal- lery, made out of a single sheet of travertine, that is cut out an its front and ‘carved on its retrotace (fg. 9.7). Throughout, brass is the kay for this metonymic transposition between stone and wood, since the inlaid picture ral, running ‘around the gallery, recalls a similar use of brass connectors in the bridge hand- rai, Such accoutrements allude both to marine detailing and to the kind of ft- tings found in eighteenth-century gentleman's furniture (ig, 8.8) Like al of Scarpa’s bridges, the Quernl Stampalia passeretie is structured about ‘the themes of bearing and transition, which may expiain one of the feast- ‘noticed features of this bridge, namely is conbived asymmetry, particularly ‘since the datum on either side is almost the samme (soe fg. 9.1)? It seers that {his asyrrmetry arose out of the need to mest two diferent conditions: on one hhand the bridge had to be high enough to permit gondolas to pass close to the ‘campo: on the other hand it had to come dow lower and more gradualy 9 or- der to clear the lintel of the busting ent. All of this is etfected by displacing the bearings of the layered superstructure 60 thatthe point of the hinged support is 0 centimeters higher on the landward side. Thus, one steps up from abutments In tstrian stone betore crossing two oak reads onto the curved oak dock of the ‘briage its’. The descent, on the other hand, is eftected by five sinter treads, the last of which lies fush withthe stone threshold to the palace. OF the seven ‘wooden treads, three are set flush withthe surfaces to which they give access. ‘This redundancy, together with the subdivision of the osk dacking, maki the “Getinction between threshold and span ambiguous. The deck furctions as @ ‘kind of tectonic elision that simuitaneously both extends and curtis ane's expe- ‘ence of crossing. This inflection finds its correspondence in the balustracing. or (Cao Scama, Fanutons Overti Stenpat, ‘one to uty aie. 28 artoctn dressing ttle or Pus tabi, 178, oo Caro Sewpa Fonsascre Quen Sixreats, gas cov to aarsen 90 (Calo Scarpa Fosdarine Guertin, laste crarew groan, sump 1 the Fountain ote ght. \which is shortened on the landward side and extended toward the building. The unequal spacing of uprights that results from this asymmetry necessitates twin-rail balustrade, since an unbraced handrail would be insufficient for the Jong span. h this combination, @lewer structural rail in tubule steel and an up ‘per hancall in teak, we fin that synthesis of structural economy and ergonomic {foxm that is 80 characteristic of Scarpa’s work. ‘The highest point of the acque alts, indicated by the height ofthe concrete up ‘stand inthe entry finds reflecton in the surface treatment of the main exibition ‘Space, where he travertine stops short at we samme datum and the exposed ag- ‘gregate concrete flor is taken up to meet it. The strips of istran stone subdivid- lng this relatively nexpressive floor amount to.a kind of basketwork that bonds the concrete tanking into a unity, These bands are regulary modulated, thereby ‘echoing but not following the syncopation of the wall revetment (see fi. 82). In ‘ackdtton to this modulation, these courses seem to be subtly aligned so as to correspond with an existing splay in the plan form of the building. Thus, wile the first throe transverse Istrian strips on entering the gallery are sot at right spgies to the walls of the exhibition space, the remaining strips, nine 2 ive singles and two doubles), appear to be normal to the walls of the star hall This subtie adjustment in alignment is accompanied by a dlagenal infection through | ee ane +e space that passes ‘rom lft to right toward the garden: court. This movernsrt '8 underine by tha placement of iran radiators; a vertical, eneases stack atthe -antry and a single, freestanding horizontal racator bracketed off the floor to one side ofthe glazed opening to the garden. The conentie sianchions supperting ‘ha armored plate glass pardon doors are nea treated as iements in a Necras~ cist composition, 20 that where Ue axis of one les peralel to the cross axis of th hall the-other is rotated ninoty degre; each bing inscribed with a gikted baron its ce (ig. 9.9), This rotation i subty reflectodin the trestment ofthe: glass sei, so that a 10-centimeter, ground-glass ight panel planted on one of ‘he stanchions is balanced by two 5-centimeter safety strips etched into the plata glass. A similar asymm translucent ight nana! and safety strin are 2860 inooeparatoc inte the glazed eereon wal separating the axhibiton hel from the initia fopee. ‘A paritel play with asymmetrical waments annearsin the water chanel unning emoes the canden caurt, in which twe different spirals, a rectilinear fourtain i ‘Apuan marble and & eieula’ concrata drain, are tha begining and the end of @ flow running frorn mast to west, passing beneath a Vanetian stone fon by which the channel is surmounted: fig’ 9.10). This islamic reference seams outiy ‘Saniicant in that the flaw from the east net only serves to evoke the depen- doncy of Venice on the Orient but also Scarpa’s own genealogy; hic salt characterization as “x man of Byzantium, who came to Venice by way of Greece.” At the sarne time this fountain may be read as a metaphor fer the Me ytie. As Gtussppa Zambonini has written: ‘Waters weed 2 a counterpoint to the treatment ofthe ground floor of the Pax (azo. ts source is 4 small Jbyrinth carved in masbie which sugges the psin of its forced bith fis than channeled through @ fare trough, paral fo the Rio (Ganta Mars Formosa) which extends almost the entire fongtn of the garcon, it then passes beneath a stone lian that faces the source and finaly dsapppaars inte the crain which is magnificently wxpressive of the ides of vorter.* ‘The infuence of China in Searpa's work can hardly ba averoslimaied, particu Incy when it comes tothe walled gardens of beth the Quer Staripala ae tho Brian Cemetary in Sen Wo Aton bot instances a fieze of enareied tiles, 38 an artical horizon, Is nai into certain sections ofthe perimotor walls. In Venice this fs matched by the ted Ering oa Ny pore ial out to the designs of the painter Mario de Luigi (ig. 9.11). As Albertini and Bagnol have sug- gested, these tiled ornaments in Murano glass initiata and enrich the prame- nade through the court ‘The garden forms @ rectangle roughly corresponding to two squares, each 12 m per side, cut by @ concrete dividing wall. Is largoly kad ox with iawn and ‘hubs. A squere copper container for papyrus plants is inset in a largar pond ‘riveted with mossic tesserae: hero water collects bafore rechanneling. Isolated trom this, a snnall basin (75% 39.5 x 45-6 em), formed of Aouan marble of purplish hue, collects the water dripping int it farm 2 seal pipe and ehannnle it into @ miniature maze, where i (its a series of shatiow concavities before flowing into 2 long, deep water course in which water lies flourish, At the end opposite the smal basin, serving as a bird bath for the winged inhabitants of the garden, a ow cascade lends Impetus fo the flow of water, carrying it into proximity with ant ancient and naw dry wellhead. A short path with a number of steps completes the arden layout, branching off from the glazed wall ofthe portico to feed the visitor elther toward the papyrus pool or inthe direction of the welvnead —————_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_—_——— rr {In Searpa's work everything turns on the joint to such an extent tht, to para ‘Bhrase Le Corbuset, the joint the generator rather than the plan, not only in re ‘spect ofthe whole but also with regard to alternative solutions lying latent, as ‘nore, within any particular pat (fg. 9.12). These alternativos srise epontane- ‘custy from Scarpa's method, hs habit of drawing in ree, wherein an initia! ‘charcoal sketch on card, cne of his famous cartons, becomes progressively elab- ‘rated and overisid by traces, washes, an ven white-out to be folowed by tur ther delineations, entering into a cycical process of erasure and redesign respect af a given junction, wihout ever fully abandoning the fst incarnation of the solution. n this way, a8 Marco Frascati has remarked, Scarpa’s cartan! serve as an archasoiogy oF the project “in Scarpa’s architectural production rela tionships betwoon the whole and the parts, and the relationship between crafts ‘manship and draftsmanship, wow a dtect substantiation in corpore vil of the Identity o the process of perception and production, that is, the union of the ‘construction withthe construing."* This observation stresses two essential aspects of Scarpa's method, frst he gestural impulse passing aimost wimout @ break from the act of drafting to the ‘ct of making, and second. reciprocity obtaning between what Frascar charac- terzes as the toch of logos and the logos of tochne; thats to say, between construing a particuar form and constructing its realization (and then ater in the eye, the moment in which the user construes the significance af the con- struction). Ne are cota hare to Giambatteta Vico: ant-Cartasian idea of corpe- ‘eat imagination. Scarpa would directly acknowledge this arity on succeeding to the Geanship of me Istituto Universitario i Arritettura ct Venza by superi- Posing the Vicanian motto Verum Josue Factum on the school’s diploma ana, later, by inserting the sam legend into his design forthe schoo! portal, thereby [erally dedicating erchtects tothe Viconian pursuit of “truth through making ” nie Scarpa may nave bacome familar with Vico's thought by reading Bene- ‘otto Croce's Aesthotica of 1909, another source would have been the ‘ighteenth-century Venetian architect Carlo Lodol who was a contemporary and a promoter of Vico's ideas.” Vico's Verum Ipsum Factum would have basn an Caro Searpa,Fondancra Quer Survpaks, aeoe re » Calo seepa Son wns, Sone eA, yy A 1068, Map of tara, wo lpm axa (Galo Scarpa, cast hyoun sd ep of Fonwn rics, Fee, 1975-1878. Section, an (Calo Scape, Museo di Cantivecchio, ona, 1953-1968. Saction tough aatrirce rom, Important for Scarpa at two levels; frst in confrming the cognitive aspect of his ‘own acthity anc second in providing a philosophy of education. According to Vico, knowledge was 10 be acquired not through passive acceptance but {through its ective formuletion—for only then can the subject take possession of {t For Scarpa, as for other arctitects, the frst intervention in this process was. the deineation of the thing to be constructed, while the second was the on-site ‘procots oF its realization, As Hubert Darnisch has remarked, The essential goal therefore iss inthe purpose of verification, if not actualy ex- perimentation, which Scarpe assigns to the drawing, wbich has to embody ai! necessary misgivings. For instance, « perspective image ofa staircase does not allow sufficient accuracy fn idonttying the numbar of steps and thair height, let ‘lone the detals of their jointing —jolnting being a link-up with Cézanne's doubt, ‘A ciitical position ofthis kind acquires special significance at a time like the pres- lent, characterized by an attempt to reduce architectural thought fo the single

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