Atmosphere in the architecture of Carlo Scarpa | Robert McCarter

To a degree unmatched by any other Modern architect, Scarpa stood in two worlds, the ancient and the modern, and his architecture, so representative of time and place, is particularly shaped by the experience of the inhabitant.

To this end, McCarter's exploration of Scarpa's works is developed through analysis of process and design as well through tailor-made experiential 'walk-throughs' of many critical projects. For Scarpa, only a rich appreciation of a region's history and culture could lend an architect the ability to design for a particular place.

Robert McCarter is the author of an important monography on Carlo Scarpa’s work published by Phaidon in 2013.

In the lecture at Querini Stampalia palace he reads in particular the contribution of Scarpa’s work in creating a special atmosphere in his interior spaces dealing with the magnificent use of light and shadow, water and reflection, colour and vibration, with reference to the legacy of Venetian and oriental traditional architecture.

Robert McCarter is a practicing architect and has been Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis since 2007. He taught previously at the University of Florida, where he was Director of the School of Architecture from 1991–2001, and Columbia University, among other schools. He has written for numerous international publications, and his books include: Carlo Scarpa (2013); Understanding Architecture, co-authored with Juhani Pallasmaa (2012); Louis I Kahn (2005); On and By Frank Lloyd Wright: A Primer of Architectural Principles (2005); Frank Lloyd Wright (1997);Unity Temple (1997); and Fallingwater (1994), all by Phaidon Press. He has also published Wiel Arets: Autobiographical References (2012); Frank Lloyd Wright: Critical Lives (2006); and William Morgan: Selected and Current Work(2002), among other books.