Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The 20th Century
After Giudecca's baroque buildings were torn down for factories and the Ferrovia (train
station) was built, the city took decades to recover from the shock. Venice reverted to 19th-
century
venezianitá
, the tendency to tack on exaggerated Venetian elements from a range
of periods - a Gothic trefoil arch here, a baroque cupola there. Rather than harmonising
these disparate architectural elements, interiors were swagged in silk damask and moodlit
with Murano chandeliers. The resulting hodge-podge seemed to signal the end of Venice's
architectural glory days.
Lido Liberty
But after nearly a century dominated by French and Austrian influence, Venice let loose on
the Lido with the bohemian decadence of
stile liberty
(Liberty style, or Italian art nouveau).
Ironwork vegetation wound around balconies of seaside villas and wild fantasy took root at
grand hotels, including Giovanni Sardi's 1898-1908 Byzantine-Moorish Excelsior and
Guido Sullam's Hungaria Palace Hotel. Eclectic references to Japanese art, organic patterns
from nature and past Venetian styles give Lido buildings cosmopolitan flair with
stile
liberty
tiles, stained glass, ironwork and murals.
Fascist Monuments
In the 1930s the Fascists arrived to lay down the law on the Lido, applying a strict, func-
tional neoclassicism even to entertainment venues such as the 1937-38 Palazzo della
Mostra del Cinema and former Casinò (now undergoing redevelopment). Fascist architec-
ture makes occasional awkward appearances in central Venice too, notably the Hotel Bauer
and the extension to the Hotel Danieli, which represent an architectural oxymoron: the
strict Fascist luxury-deco hotel.
Scarpa's High Modernism
The Biennale introduced new international architecture to Venice, but high modernism re-
mained mostly an imported style until it was championed by Venice's own Carlo Scarpa
(1906-78). Instead of creating seamless modern surfaces, Scarpa frequently exposed under-
lying structural elements and added unexpectedly poetic twists. At Negozio Olivetti, mosa-
ic and water channels mimic
acque alte
across the floor, a floating staircase makes ascent
seem effortless, and internal balconies jut out midair like diving boards into the infinite.
Scarpa's concrete-slab Venezuela Pavilion was ahead of its time by a full half-century, and
