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The Aula Baratto is located on the second floor of Ca' Foscari, seat of Ca' Foscari University of Venice.It is called Aula Baratto because it is dedicated to Mario Baratto, a teacher of Italian literature who died during a council board in 1984. The room is used today for conferences, conventions, formal ceremonies, advanced training courses and important events of Ca’ Foscari University.
Interventions of Carlo Scarpa[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
The architect Carlo Scarpa[1] made two interventions:
- In 1935-37 he designed the Great Hall.
- In 1955-56 he transformed the Great Hall into a normal lecture hall and he designed the boiserie.
First intervention of Carlo Scarpa (1935-37)[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
Carlo Scarpa designed the Great Hall in order to replace the Museum of Commerce. A massive portal introduces to the hall. On the top of this portal we find the Latin inscription ″STUDIA DECUS ORNAMENTUMQUE VITAE″ which underlines the importance of the study in the life of everyone.
Scarpa’s project included:
- The window frame which closes the gothic window.
- The student’s tribune.
- The wooden platform where the desk is located.
- The marble frieze and the two marble pedestals.
The window frame reminds the Pavillon Suisse for the Cité Universitaire of Le Corbusier. The window frame is divided in two sections: on the top the structure is fixed while the structure beneath is made of sliding windows. The student’s tribune was the place reserved for the students and it is now substituted by the boiserie. Behind the desk there is a marble frieze which reminds the abstract structure of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Pavillon of Barcelona in 1929. At each side of the desk there is a marble pedestals: one held the bust of the king Vittorio Emanuele III and the other the bust of Mussolini. The basis of the pedestals reminds the pattern of the intersection of the two circles typical of Scarpa.
Second intervention of Carlo Scarpa (1955-56)[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
Scarpa was asked to return to Ca’ Foscari to transform the Great Hall into a lecture hall. For this reason the ″student’s tribune″ was removed and the boiserie was introduced. The boiserie divided the external corridor from the room. It has been designed like a wooden box inside the gothic building. The simplicity of the 1936 window frame is now substituted by a more expressive intervention. There are new diagonal structures with a Y shape, the forks, which hold the ceiling of the boiserie. In this period Scarpa was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. Vertical and horizontal elements of the boiserie repeat the structure of the multi-light window which is visible through the glass. The ceiling is very original: there is a grate, wooden sections with different patterns and colors, empty spaces that show the XV century ceiling of the room, timbers, neon light. Natural or artificial light reflects on the boiserie and shows the different colors of the wood (walnut, cherrywood, beech). Dark panels are covered with hempen cloth and are used to conceal the room. When they are closed they remind the ogive of the multi light window, while the forks remind the higher part of the ancient capital. After the great fire of 1979 the boiserie of Scarpa was in a very deteriorated state. Prof. Valeriano Pastor, student of Scarpa, restored it together with the same craftsman that worked with Scarpa in 1956.
It is possible to see Scarpa's Interventions with the Ca' Foscari Tour.
Frescos[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
Aula Baratto was decoreted with two frescos: Italy, Venice and Studies by Mario Sironi[2] and The School by Mario Deluigi [3]
Italy, Venice and Studies[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
Between 1935 and 1937 en:Mario Sironi was asked by the rector en:Agostino Lanzillo to decorate the Great Hall of Ca’ Foscari. He was chosen because he was considered an artist able to convey the faith and the fervor of the Italian youth of that period. In Italy, Venice and Studies Sironi represents from left to right: a student athlete, who holds a book and a musquet; the allegory of Technique and the allegory of Medicine; the city of Venice sitting on a throne and showing a plate, in which the façade of Ca’ Foscari is depicted; the lion of St. Mark and the domes of the basilica; Motherland, who is the figure in chains and it represents the victory of Italy in Ethiopia. There is an inscription over the Motherland figure: “Italy will do by itself”; it refers to the autarky pursued by Italy and to its ambition to become an imperial power.
The School[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
In this painting Mario Deluigi, a close friend of Scarpa, represents the school of philosophers. In the middle there is the thinker surrounded by the students. The painting presents traces of cubism, but there is also the three-dimensional element. The painting recalls Picasso's and Gris's artistic style and Braque's emphasis on colors.
References[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
- ^ centro Carlo Scarpa http://www.carloscarpa.it/
- ^ Associazione per il Patrocinio e la Promozione della Figura e dell'Opera Mario Sironi http://www.mariosironi.org/
- ^ Archivio Mario Deluigi http://www.mariodeluigi.it/
Bibliography[modifica | modifica wikitesto]
- Giuseppe Maria Pilo (a cura di), Ca' Foscari. Storia del restauro del palazzo dell'Università di Venezia, Venezia, Marsilio, 2009.