I Disegni di Carlo Scarpa per la Biennale di Venezia
Architetture e Progetti (1948–1968)
Carlo Scarpa (Venice, 1906–1978) is considered one of the most important architects of the twentieth century. His prolific career includes designs for single houses, urban interventions in historic town centres, landscape solutions, museum projects, exhibition design, interior design, and industrial design. Scarpa’s projects and built works are studied by architects and students throughout the world and his decorative style has become a model for architects wishing to revive craft and luscious materials in a contemporary manner. Scarpa was awarded many prizes both in Italy and abroad, and many exhibitions were organised in his honour.
In 2001, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage acquired Scarpa’s personal archive for the MAXXI collections, and it is currently preserved at the Archives Centre of “MAXXI Architettura.”
This exhibition, conceived and organised by “MAXXI_Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI secolo” in Rome (National Arts Museum of the XXI Century), showcases Scarpa’s works, commissioned by the Venice Biennale, from 1948 to 1968, through twelve exhibits that reproduce thirty-six drawings selected out of the huge number of those preserved in the professional archive. Realised and unrealised works, many of which are still unknown to the public, witness the close, longstanding and significant cooperation between Scarpa and the Venice Biennale.
“If I have to think of a rigorous architecture, I will think of Tuscan architecture as I am Byzantine.” Scarpa describes himself in this way, with modesty, in the video-documentary at this exhibition. The master, in his own voice, shares his ideas on the profession of architects and on the city of Venice.
In conjunction with the Carlo Scarpa exhibition, Luca Molinari, Architect and Critic, will be giving a special bonus talk during the ArchiFest Forum on Tuesday 20 Oct, 9.30am at the Drama Centre.
About the MAXXI
The MAXXI_Museum of 21st Century Arts is a foundation created by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. It is the first national museum dedicated to contemporary creativity, designed as a multidisciplinary space committed to experimentation and innovation in the arts and architecture. The programming of its activities – exhibitions, workshops, conferences, laboratories, performances, presentations, and educational activities – mirrors the museum’s vocation of being not only a space for the conservation and presentation of its collections, but above all a laboratory for artistic experimentation and production that gives voice to the different languages of contemporariness.
The MAXXI consists of two museums: MAXXI art and MAXXI architecture. The permanent collections of these two museums grow through direct acquisitions, as well as trough commissions, thematic competitions, awards for young artists, donations, and permanent loans. At the moment, the MAXXI art collection consists of over three hundred pieces, including works by Boetti, Clemente, Kapoor, Kentridge, Merz, Penone, Pintaldi, Richter, and Warhol.
The MAXXI architecture collection includes the drawing archives of masters of twentieth-century Italian architecture, such as Carlo Scarpa, Aldo Rossi, and Pierluigi Nervi, projects and works by contemporary architects such as Toyo Ito, Italo Rota, and Giancarlo De Carlo, as well as a collection of photographs by Basilico, Barbieri, Jodice, and Guidi.
In addition to the two museums, the MAXXI also features an auditorium, a library, and a media library specialised in art and architecture, a bookshop, a cafeteria, a bar/restaurant, and galleries for temporary exhibitions, performances, and educational activities. The large public square designed in front of the museum is planned to host artworks and live events.
The MAXXI aims to become a point of reference for public and private institutions in Italy and abroad, as well as for artists, architects, and the general public.
The Architecture of the MAXXI
The MAXXI, designed by Zaha Hadid (winner of the international design competition) is located in the Rome neighbourhood of Flaminio, on the site of the former Montello barracks. The architectural complex – over 27,000 square metres – is integrated with the urban fabric of the city, to which it offers a new, articulated, and “permeable” plaza, wrapped by the innovative and spectacular forms. An external pedestrian path follows the shape of the building, slipping below its cantilevered volumes. It opens onto a large plaza that restores an urban connection, interrupted for almost a century by the former military structure, offering visitors a space for rest and leisure.
A large, full-height atrium leads to the museum’s recreation spaces, the cafeteria and the bookshop, and the auditorium and galleries that host rotating displays of the two museums’ permanent collections, exhibitions, and cultural events. A decisive architecture predominates in the public square and the atrium, while the galleries are characterised by a more sober quality. Materials such as glass, steel, and concrete give the exhibition spaces a neutral appearance, while moveable panels ensure the flexibility of exhibition layouts. The fluid and sinuous forms, and the variation and overlap of different levels determine – thanks also to the modulated use of natural light ¬– a spatial and functional pattern of great complexity, offering itineraries and views that are constantly different and unexpected.
The fundamental character of the architectural and structural project consists of the use of the walls as spatial ordering elements. The interiors of the galleries, almost linear, are delimited by couples of parallel walls that follow the building’s longitudinal movement. Plasterboard connected to the concrete walls creates the technical cavity that contains the museum’s complex mechanical systems.
The roof system is a particularly complex element, in technological and mechanical terms. It integrates exterior glazing, complex light shading devices (blinds, louvres, etc) and artificial lighting systems, a system to control temperature and humidity, and tracks to hang panels. The vertical blades that characterise the roof system are realised in steel and covered with a finishing material. The glass roof is protected on the exterior by a steel mesh that screens light and ensures easy maintenance. All vertical connections, including the columns supporting the cantilevered volumes, are constructed in steel.
Organised by Singapore Institute of Architects & Italian Cultural Institute in Singapore.
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