Carlo Scarpa The Message of the Structure

The first in-depth study on the structural design integral to Scarpa's projects.

Carlo Scarpa used materials as if he were creating a work of art. The ones chosen for the structural elements of his projects were determined as much by practical necessities as by poetic choices, always in harmony with function, to convey a message consistent with the prjoect, a tectonic meaning, through a play of correspondences of every kind. The architect and designer showcased structure by revealing its balance through the design of subtle devices, applied at every scale, from the building's framework to that of the exhibition spaces.

In Carlo Scarpa's works, the structure is always precise and well-proportioned, without excess or superfluous additions. The details necessary to construction were also studied to meet the requirements of architectural expression, to guide, as it were, the movement of the eye. It is this discreet and refined work that I call the "message," as it depends on the observer and their sensitivity, and may be described as a form of constructive poetry.