Carlo Scarpa, Castelvecchio, Verona

Carlo Scarpa began to come into national prominencewith several designs for exhibitions.The first were in Venice: Paul Klee (1948) forthe 1949 Biennale, Giovanni Bellini (1949) atthe Palazzo Ducale, Toulouse Lautrec (1952)at the Palazzo Correr, and Tiepolo for the1952 Biennale. Others followed: Quattrocento(1953) at Messina town hall and Piet Mondrian(1956) at the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Modernain Rome. Such commissions finally led him intothe design of museum interiors: among many,his most celebrated were the Museo dell'Accademia(1952-56) and the Museo Correr (1953to 1969), both in Venice, the Palazzo Abbatellis(1953/54) in Palermo, the Gipsoteca Canovianain Possagno (1955-57) and the Museo di Castelvecchio(1956-64) in Verona. Scarpa's exhibit designsand museum interiors present a differentway of seeing. On the one hand, seeing the objectthrough provision of a sympathetic settingfor it; on the other, seeing contemporary modern architecture in the context of the culturalcontinuum that has carried it to where it nowmomentarily hovers. The Museo di Castelvecchiowas developed on the bombed ruins of theScaligery family's medieval castle in Verona. Firstcommissioned to redesign the oldest section ofthe building, Scarpa was later asked to completethe museum. The work is a monument to Scarpa'ssensibilties about time and place. Accordingto critic Nory Miller he achieved an extraordinarycoexistence involving architecture of differentcenturies, including this one ... withoutthe crutches of neutral glass linkages, uniformmaterials, or historical references ... Each angle,shape, surface is chosen to engage the attentionor participation of the visitor. Indeed, the symbiosisbetween Scarpa's work and the survivingfabric is such that differences are hardly apparent.With his infinitive capacity for fine detailing,he touched the past lightly; because he was soconscious of continuity the museum gives thesense that construction has been supended.(After Donald Leslie Johnson and Donald Langmead.)Valeria Carullo is curator of the Robert ElwallPhotographs Collection in the Royal Institute ofBritish Architects, Paola Marini is director andAlba Di Lieto curator of the Musei d'Arte Monumentiof the city of Verona. Richard Bryant isone of the best-known architectural photographers,working all over the world. He is the onlyphotographer with an honorary fellowship ofthe Royal Institute of British Architects.