Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Olivetti comissioned Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa to transform a narrow, dim souvenir
shop into a showcase for its sleek typewriters and 'computing machines' (several 1948-54
models are displayed).
Instead of fighting the elements, Scarpa invited them indoors. He sliced away walls to
let light flood in, included a huge planter for tall grasses and added a black slab-marble
fountain as a wink at acque alte . Scarpa enticed visitors to cross primary-coloured Mur-
ano glass-tiled floors, scale the floating white-marble stairway, pass satiny Venetian
plaster walls and browse the teak-wood balcony. Semicircular porthole windows resemble
eyes open wide to the historic piazza, and the Architecture Biennale's modernist horizons.
PONTE DELL'ACCADEMIA
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( btwn Campo di San Vidal & Campo della Carità; Accademia) The wooden Ponte dell'Accademia
was built in 1933 as a temporary replacement for an 1854 iron bridge, but this span,
arched like a cat's back, remains a beloved landmark. Engineer Eugenio Miozzi's notable
works include the Lido Casino, but none has lasted like this elegant little footbridge - and
recent structural improvements have preserved it for decades to come.
BRIDGE
CHIESA DI SANTA MARIA DEL GIGLIO
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CHURCH
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(Santa Maria Zobenigo; www.chorusvenezia.org ; Campo di Santa Maria del Giglio; admission €3 or with Chorus Pass;
10am-5pm Mon-Sat; Santa Maria del Giglio) Experience awe through the ages in this compact
church with a 10th-century Byzantine layout, charmingly flawed maps of Venice's territ-
ories c 1678 on the facade, and three intriguing masterpieces. Veronese's Madonna with
Child hides behind the altar, Tintoretto's four evangelists flank the organ, and Peter Paul
Rubens' Mary with St John in the Molin Chapel features a characteristically chubby baby Je-
sus.
Admiral Antonio Barbaro commissioned this reconstruction of the original 9th- century
church by Giuseppe Sardi for the glory of the Virgin, Venice, and of course himself - his
statue gets prime facade placement. This self-glorifying architectural audacity enraged
19th-century architectural critic John Ruskin, who called it a 'manifestation of insolent
atheism'.
CAMPANILE
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TOWER
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(Bell Tower; www.basilicasanmarco.it ; Piazza San Marco; admission €8;
9am-9pm Jul-Sep, to 7pm Apr-Jun & Oct,
San Marco) The basilica's 99m-tall tower has been rebuilt twice since
9.30am-3.45pm Nov-Mar;
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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