
Carlo Scarpa (2 June 1906 – 28 November 1978) was an Italian
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and designer. He was influenced by the materials, landscape, and history of Venetian culture, as well as those of Japan. Scarpa translated his interests in history, regionalism, invention, and the techniques of the artist and craftsman into glass and furniture design.
Biography
Scarpa was born in
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
on 2 June 1906. Much of his early childhood was spent in
Vicenza
Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...
, where his family relocated when he was two years old. After his mother's death when he was 13, he moved with his father and brother back to Venice. Carlo attended the
Academy of Fine Arts where he focused on architectural studies. After he graduated from the academy with the title of Professor of Architecture, he apprenticed with the architect Francesco Rinaldo. Scarpa married Rinaldo's niece, Nini Lazzari (Onorina Lazzari).
However, Scarpa refused to sit the ''pro forma'' professional exam administered by the Italian government after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. As a consequence, he was not permitted to practice architecture without associating with an architect. Hence, those who worked with him (clients, associates, craftspersons, etc.) called him "Professor", rather than "architect".

Scarpa's architecture is deeply sensitive to the passage of time, from seasons to history. He was
Mario Botta's thesis adviser along with
Giuseppe Mazzariol; the latter was the director of the
Fondazione Querini Stampalia when Scarpa completed his renovation and garden for that institution. Scarpa taught drawing and interior decoration at the
Istituto universitario di architettura di Venezia from the late 1940s until his death. While most of his built work is located in the
Veneto
Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...
region, he designed landscapes, gardens, and buildings for other regions of Italy as well as Canada, the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, and Switzerland. His name has 11 letters and this is used repeatedly in his architecture.
One of his last projects, the Villa Palazzetto in
Monselice
Monselice (; ) is a town and municipality (comune) located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua about southwest of the city of Padua, at the southern edge of the Euganean Hills (''Colli Euganei'').
''Monselic ...
, was left incomplete at the time of his death and was altered in October 2006 by his son
Tobia. Considered one of his most ambitious landscape and garden projects, it was executed for Aldo Businaro, the representative for Cassina who was responsible for Scarpa's first trip to Japan. Businaro died in August 2006, a few months before the completion of the new stairs at the Villa Palazzetto, built to commemorate Scarpa's centenary.
In 1978, while in
Sendai, Japan, Scarpa fell down a flight of concrete stairs. He died of his injuries on 28 November 1978 after ten days in hospital. He is buried standing up and wrapped in linen sheets in the style of a medieval knight, in an isolated exterior corner of his L-shaped
Brion tomb at San Vito d'Altivole in Veneto.
In 1984, the Italian composer
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono (; 29 January 1924 – 8 May 1990) was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music.
Biography
Early years
Nono, born in Venice, was a member of a wealthy artistic family; his grandfather was a notable painter. Nono bega ...
dedicated to Scarpa a composition for orchestra in micro-intervals, ''A Carlo Scarpa, Architetto, Ai suoi infiniti possibili''.
Design career
Scarpa was a designer as well as an architect. At the beginning of his career, he collaborated with
glassmakers in
Murano
Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about north of Venice and measures about across with a population of just over 5,000 (2004 figures). It is famous for its glass making. It was o ...
. He designed jars and chandeliers for
MVM Cappellin & Co. and
Venini. His designs for Venini have sold for high prices at auction, including a 1940 vase that sold at
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
in 2012 for around $309,000, and another vase, found in a
thrift store
A charity shop is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. Charity shops are a type of social enterprise. They sell mainly used goods such as clothing, books, music albums, shoes, toys, and furniture donated by ...
, which sold in 2023 for $107,100.
Furthermore, Scarpa joined the
industrial design
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...
world in the 1960s after meeting Dino Gavina. Scarpa became the president of the eponymous company Gavina.
In 1968, after the founding of Studio Simon, Scarpa started to design industrial furniture.
He designed pieces for Simon and Bernini. The Doge table (1968) and the Cornaro sofa (1973) are the most famous.
Notable works
*
Gallerie dell'Accademia
The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery o ...
, Venice, Italy
* Padiglione del libro d'arte, Giardini di Castello,
La Biennale,
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, 1950–1952
* Palazzo Abatellis: La Galleria Di Sicilia, Palermo, 1953–1954
*
''Palazzo Ca'Foscari'',
Venice
Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
, Italy, 1935–1956
*
Venezuelan Pavilion, La Biennale, Venice, Italy, 1954–1956
* Veritti House, Udine, Italy, 1955–1961
*
Museo Canova di
Possagno
Possagno is a comune in the Province of Treviso, in the Italy, Italian region Veneto. It is located about northwest of Venice and about northwest of Treviso. As of 31 August 2021, it had a population of 2,215 and an area of .All demographics and ...
, Italy, 1955–1957
*
''Museo di Castelvecchio'',
Verona
Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
, Italy, 1956–1964
* Negozio
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been owned b ...
, piazza S. Marco, Venezia, Italy, 1957–1958
*
Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice, 1961–1963
*
Brion Tomb and Sanctuary, at
San Vito d'Altivole, Italy, 1969–1978
*Banca Popolare di Verona, Italy, 1973–1978
*Restauración del Museo de Castelvecchio en Verona / Carlo Scarpa
References
Bibliography
*Beltramini, Guido; Zannier, Italo (2007). ''Carlo Scarpa: Architecture and Design''. New York: Rizzoli.
*
*
*Dal Co, Francesco; Mazzariol, Giuseppe (1985). ''Carlo Scarpa: The Complete Works.''
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
: Electa; New York: Rizzoli.
*Dal Co, Francesco (2009). ''To Construct, to Compose: Carlo Scarpa and the Villa Ottolenghi''. Amsterdam: SUN.
*
Guidi, Guido (2011). ''Carlo Scarpa's Tomba Brion.'' Ostfildern:
Hatje Cantz.
* Giunta, Santo (2020). ''Carlo Scarpa. A
uriousshaft of light, a golden standard, the hands and a face of a woman. Reflections on the design process and layout of Palazzo Abatellis 1953–1954''. Foreword by Richard Murphy; Afterword by Giampiero Bosoni, Marsilio, Venice, .
*
*
*
*McCarter, Robert (2013). ''Carlo Scarpa''. London:
Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional of ...
. (2nd edition, 2017)
*
*Schultz, Anne-Catrin (2007). ''Carlo Scarpa: Layers''. Stuttgart: Edition Axel Menges.
*
*Sonego, Carla (1995). ''Carlo Scarpa. Gli anni della formazione''. Venice: IUAV, (unpublished thesis, Professor Marco De Michelis, supervisor).
External links
Digital Archive of Carlo Scarpa*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scarpa, Carlo
1906 births
1978 deaths
Accidental deaths in Japan
Architects from Venice
Accidental deaths from falls
Italian designers
Modernist architects from Italy
20th-century Italian architects
Olivetti people
Academic staff of the Università Iuav di Venezia