richard murphy and carlo scarpa: a regional-modernist dialogue
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Architecture Year 3 DissertationTRANSCRIPT
Richard Murphy and Carlo Scarpa: A Regional-Modernist Dialogue
Stephanie Else 090004651
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Contents
Abstract
Introduction
1.1 Context
1.2 Subtext
1.3 Focus
1.4 Murphy: as Architect
1.5 Scarpa: as Architect
A Regionalist Approach
2.1 Regionalism versus Vernacular
2.2 The Language of Buildings
2.3 The City: Regional Stratification
Architecture in Principle
3.1 Layers in History
3.2 Venice
3.3 Scarpa’s Lessons
Architecture in Detail
4.1 Site: Topography
4.2 Threshold
4.3 Materiality
Conclusion
References
Bibliography
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Abstract
Currently, we inhabit a world in which globalisation is becoming a progressively
dominant phenomenon. It is becoming increasingly accepted that a uniform,
‘global’, architecture is inappropriate in responding to the varied rich, diverse
regional variations and cultures. Often, it is the architecture of a region which defines
its place within the world.
As such, current thinking suggests that globalisation threatens to eclipse the idea of
the locale entirely. Within the built environment there is a responsibility to resists
these global pressures.
Characterised by the parameters of context, a regionalist architecture signifies the
exclusivity of a place.
This paper, through a comparative analysis of two exemplary regional-modernists,
Richard Murphy and Carlo Scarpa, will investigate the reasoning and arguments of
their work and its relationship to contemporary architectural regionalism;
underpinning the necessity for regionalism as an approach within architecture.
Articulated within their works is a language which, in its sensitivity to place, is
timeless. Ultimately, it is the vivid dialogue which exists between the two architects
which is the focus of this paper.
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Introduction
Regionalism is never a singular theory or practice but is most often a means by
which tensions – such as those between globalisation and localism, modernity and
tradition – are resolved.
(Canizaro 2007)
1.1 Context
The world which exists today is a world of increasing contemporary globalisation1
.
With the relatively recent exponential expansion of industry and commerce, in
architecture, the concept of ‘mass production’ and the standardisation of products
specifically, there is an ever decreasing identity of ‘place’. However, there is
efficiency at its core. This effect has certainly become the crux of existing societies.
The world today demands such a high level of fast-paced affordable production that
efficiency is necessary. Globalisation, typically, produces uniformity in its language;
ultimately though, this does often result in the loss of cultural ‘identity’.
1 It has been well documented that ‘globalisation’ in architecture is a phenomenon which
began in the 1950s and 60s. However, Anthony King (Herrle 2008) maintains the argument that ‘globalisation’ is actually not a relatively new concept. He argues that, historically, humanity has always been influenced by globalism. He highlights, specifically, in the 16
th
and 17th
centuries, the impact of Renaissance planning and design on European ‘colonial cities’.
1.2 Subtext: Regionalism, an Architecture of Place
Regionalism is a fundamental concept which aims to maintain, and sometimes
restore, cultural idiosyncrasies. Importantly, it resists the pressures of globalisation.
Often a balance is sought to adapt certain global ideas, such as the integration of
technology, with a distinct relation to the existing characteristics of a locale: the
latter compelling the former. There is an implicit requirement of the legitimacy of
architecture within its local context. As such, regionalism aims to enhance the
locality: culturally, historically and socially. Thus it maintains identity. Ultimately, an
‘architecture of place’ can be made manifest within such a globalised world. This is
only achievable though, if the architect is willing to accept that this concept is
fundamental in preventing a world in which there exists a single globalised culture.
1.3 Focus
The architects, Carlo Scarpa and Richard Murphy, are exemplary in their regional -
modernist approach to architecture. Their approach is maintained primarily through
the concept of ‘layering’ – an idea which is fundamental in the creation of an
architecture of place. This concept is vast in its complexities and will be explored
with particular emphasis on the work of Richard Murphy.
Murphy’s thorough academic studies into the work of Scarpa have had an immense
influence on his own architectural principles, which can, at times, be explicitly
observed within his work. Significantly though, each architect has his own
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architectural language whose development can be traced back through to the
essential element of ‘place’. Indeed, Murphy’s Scottish regionalism, and Scarpa’s
Venetian regionalism ultimately define the differences in the language of their
architecture.
Thus far, Murphy’s affinity with Carlo Scarpa has been well-referenced. However, an
in-depth direct comparative analysis of the ideologies and principles of the two, has
not, to current knowledge, been undertaken.
The intent then, is to explore the dialogue between the two architects. With emphasis
on tracing a narrative through Murphy’s buildings alongside Scarpa’s ideals, the
dialogue will become apparent: rich in its moments of synchronicity and equally so
where divergence occurs.
1.4 Murphy: as Architect
Saying that architecture should be of its own time may be stating the obvious…but
today…for a city to be a living organism it must accept the architecture of its own
time; to make history for future generations and to enrich rather than disrupt its
context.
Richard Murphy
Richard Murphy has a very clear understanding of the world in which we dwell. Most
significantly, he understands the impact of the effects of globalisation within the
built environment.
The specific materiality which might have established a building within its context is
losing its relevance. Currently, globalised urban environments are materialising. A
city’s identity is fast becoming obscured by the calamitous nature of what many
deem to be ‘modern architecture’. Architecture is losing its authenticity by falsifying
itself within its context as, often, architects feel compelled to ‘make a statement’ by
creating something quite alien within its surroundings. Daniel Libeskind’s
‘deconstructavist’ approach provides compelling evidence of this. [Fig.1]
Ironically, Murphy excels by doing precisely the opposite: his forte is not making a
statement. His is an architecture which responds directly to place. [Fig.2]
His architecture might be clarified as a series of contrasts. Having worked on
several intervention projects, where the architect is forced to work with ‘what is
already there’, he has developed a rich, meaningful architectural language. Clarifying
the new alongside the old, successfully, is not an easy task. Like Scarpa though,
Murphy conveys this quite effortlessly.
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
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His architectural language is holistic in the respect that a single idea can be traced
from its conceptualisation right through to the finest of details. This method,
specifically, is one on which Carlo Scarpa has had the greatest of influence.
1.5 Scarpa: as Architect
Carlo Scarpa [1906 – 1978], at base, can be described as an architect – craftsman.
Stimulated by his environment; historic Venezia. In 2010, Ann-Catrin Shultz
published a book entitled Carlo Scarpa: Layers. In it, she comprehensively explores
Scarpa’s affinity with the concept of stratification within architecture. This is an
exceptionally vast topic which extends beyond the scope of this paper. However,
this concept will be explored in respect to the dialogue which exists between Scarpa
and Murphy.
Scarpa’s architecture, like Murphy’s is made manifest entirely by the environment in
which it is situated. The historicism of Venice has compelled his entire ethos.
Furthermore, concerned with the tectonics of architecture, the legibility and
assemblage of elements, Scarpa sustains an architectural language which is, in
effect, timeless.
Typically then, there is a contemporary relevance within Scarpa’s ideologies.
A Regionalist Approach
2.1 Regionalism versus Vernacular
Canizaro (2007) compares ‘regionalism’ and the ‘vernacular’. He states that where
the vernacular is a necessary response to the specificity of local conditions – social,
climatic, topographic – regionalism is ‘voluntary’: a series of architectural theories
employed. Kenneth Frampton reinforces this concept;
Regionalism has dominated architecture in almost all countries at some time…By
way of general definition we can say that it upholds the individual and local
architectonic features against more universal and abstract ones.
As Frampton understands it, there is an inherent strength within regionalist
ideologies which are capable of sustaining the credibility of the locale within the
global.
Vernacular architecture conversely, is the result of a dynamic cultural process.
Crucially, it is the culturally syncretic response to various regional filters which
ultimately dictate the outcome. (Heath 2009) These ‘filters’ describe the collective
regional forces acting on a particular place, such as; temporal and topographical
conditions, cultural memory and tradition, materiality. Ultimately it is the
stratification of these elements which permit a ‘situated regionalism’. Within the
work of Scarpa and Murphy, the concept of architecture as a series of layers,
inclusive of the aforementioned regional filters, is paramount.
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Significantly, the architectural vernacular provides cohesion and a subsequent
contextual narrative which is regionally comprehensive.
This developing, regionalist, architectural language is as vast in its complexities as
the spoken word. It is however, important to place emphasis on the global
comprehension of this language. Crucially, this understanding is made possible
through the existence of architecture pertaining to place and locale: the linguistic
variety within architecture made manifest by social circumstance. The Italian
architect Vittorio Gregotti reinforces this concept, upholding the view that ‘it is
architecture itself that needs, for its very production, the material represented by
social relations’. (Frampton 1996) In order to facilitate an understanding of the
global, it is paramount to first appreciate the uniqueness of identity pertaining to the
local. Regionalism is the fundamental characterisation of a society’s place within the
world. Recognisable within Murphy and Scarpa’s ideologies, regionalism forms the
base strata.
Contemporary regionalism, it seems, is a necessary ideology which enables the
preservation of the smaller, yet most significant, existing cultural and social varieties
within the vast spread of globalisation. The significance lies in the clarification of the
micro, the local, within the macro, the global. Conclusively, the local is what
constitutes the global ‘whole’.
2.2 The Language of Buildings
An architecture of its own time and place: a testimonial which somehow pervades
the architectural psyche. In much of the architecture produced today however, there
is little evidence of a response to this. What must surely then be ascertained is why
this is. For, embedded within the Murphy/Scarpa dialogue is a fundamental
response to ‘place’.
Analogy is important here: the appropriation of dialogue within architecture is
crucial. There is a language which exists between a building and its context, the
legitimacy of which is determined by the appropriateness of the architecture.
Engaged within this language are the communities, the people, by which
architecture is intended.
Further to this, Unwin (2009) draws a distinct comparison between the idea of
‘place’ and ‘language’:
‘Place is to architecture, it may be said, as meaning is to language’
Ultimately, it can be surmised that place is the generator of the architectural
language. Just as language is a composition of words, the vocabulary of architecture
can be read as the fundamentals: roof, wall and floor. Where Scarpa and Murphy are
concerned, each architect has their own distinct language due to regional
specificities. Inherent between the two however, is a dialogue. Within Murphy’s
architecture are the lessons of Scarpa.
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2.3 The City: Regional Stratification
The experience and memory of humankind are laid down in layers in the physical
environment, concretely and graphically. Every new part exploits ancient forms,
materials and ways of making. Building is, at base, a sign of hope, a sign of
society’s belief in future, a gesture forward in time.
Marja-Ritta Norri
Both Murphy and Scarpa base their entire architectural philosophies on the
existence of the layers inherent within ‘place’; within society. Although regional
specificities dictate the differences between their resulting architectural languages,
their shared belief in an architecture which is ‘forward thinking’ is clarified by
Murphy’s assertion that a city’ must embrace the architecture of its time, in order to
make history for future generations.’ (Weston et al 2001)
There is a complexity within cities. Through time, rapid social, cultural and
economic developments cause cities to expand exponentially. As such the
numerous strata constituting these dense urban environments is evident, particularly
so within cities enriched by their history. As regional-modernists, Scarpa and
Murphy each from a city whose complexities are profound, Venice and Edinburgh
respectively, there exists an affinity between architect and environment. Through the
refinement of a city’s inherent complexities there is the establishment of a syncretic,
contextually rooted architecture.
Architecture in Principle
3.1 Layers in History
History, crucially, is not solely about the past. It is the signifier of growth: of
evolution. Evidently the past is the sculptor of the present, and of the future.
At its core, the formation of a city over a prolonged period of time is the essential
element in shaping the architectural vernacular. As discussed, there is consistency
within the regional filters which define the fundamentals of a vernacular architecture.
While this is true, time also permits evolution within societies. Ultimately, it is social
progression which dictates change within the vernacular form. The input of the
individual, especially, is the heart of an architecture of experience. Within the
regional-modernist mechanisms of Scarpa and Murphy, this concept is absolute.
For both architects, the city is in essence, their architectural palette. Regional filters
can be rendered as the primary; their subjective input, the secondary. As architects,
both ultimately, are sculptors of their environment.
3.2 Venice
Within the historicism of Venice are numerous strata. Through a holistic
understanding of the qualitative elements, Scarpa had the ability to develop an
architecture whose contemporary language can be read as an evolution of the city’s
history and regional specificities.
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Historically, due to its complete inaccessibility, Venice was unaffected by the
machine age. As such, the absence of industrialisation is a resonant factor within the
city. Globally, cities are governed by the existence of the motor vehicle. Venice
however, is effectively a pedestrian city: a design parameter in which Scarpa
revelled. This inaccessibility, of course, is due to the geographical positioning of the
city. Situated with a large body of water, separated entirely from mainland Italy,
Venice is primarily characterised by its canalled system. Constructed at water level,
the city is often seen to be ‘living constantly on its nerves’ (Murphy 1993) as the
aqua alta, ‘high water’, is a regular occurrence. Certainly, the city’s horizontality is
tantalising to observe; the street plane is at once solid ground and waterway.
Simultaneously, the water defines and percolates the city.
Scarpa was at once an architect of his time, and an architect ahead of his time. The
articulation of his architectural language is an enrichment of the Venetian identity. An
identity wrought by the materiality and geography, and significantly, the special light
which permeates the city.
Above all, Scarpa recognised these ‘place defining’ elements as being intrinsic to
the nature of the subjective architectural experience. According to Mazzariol et al
(1987) Scarpa was not interested in the random…Place meant the space where
some rite was made manifest. Certainly, his is an architecture of experience within
which the ideologies of regionalism are strengthened.
Similar ideologies can be traced as a narrative through the works of Murphy.
However, the emerging dialogue between the two architects becomes especially rich
where the parameters of place are made evident within their linguistic divergences.
Typically, the horizontality of Venice is a direct contrast to the vertiginous nature of
Edinburgh. Both limited however, by natural parameters; the alluring waters of the
Venetian Lagoon and the challenging mountainous landscape of Scotland.
Typified by their respective constraints, Scarpa and Murphy separately maintain their
own architectural narratives. There is strength, though, evident in their combined
dialogue particularly within the juxtaposition of certain design outcomes.
3.3 Scarpa’s Lessons
Richard Murphy has often acknowledged his great affinity with Scarpa and has made
clear the influences which have manifested themselves within his own architecture:
in principle and in practice. Scarpa’s influences extend beyond the ‘end product’;
just as Murphy’s ideals are inclusive of the design process and ultimately, the
refinement of an idea within the detail. Indeed it is Scarpa’s methodology,
specifically the evolution of an idea, whose narrative can be read from beginning to
end, which is perhaps most evident within the works of Murphy.
Like Scarpa, Murphy’s absolution in the importance of place permits the subtle
fusion of ideals. In evidence, it is the adaptation of Scarpa’s ideas which makes
Murphy’s architecture his own. It is not a case of an application of ideas, but rather
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an understanding of Scarpa’s reasoning which Murphy has allowed to influence the
language of his own architecture.
Murphy’s Scottish regionalism retains similar qualities to that of Scarpa’s Venetian
regionalism, with innovation pervading the architectural vernacular. Murphy is
responsive to both time and place. He recognises that while lessons from the past
can be relevant in the present, they are not absolute. Mazzariol (1987) describes
Scarpa’s parallel approach: ‘he used a contemporary language appropriate for 1968,
but the intention was to recompose a previous reality and send it on, to recommend
and entrust it to a future time’. Murphy’s innovation and ability to understand the
appropriateness of the built environment with relation to its current social context,
further enriches his language within the mainstream Scottish architectural tradition:
‘a language even more firmly anchored to that sense of place’. (Weston et al 2001)
Kenneth Frampton’s essay Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an
Architecture of Resistance, (Foster1990), describes how ‘it is necessary to
distinguish between Critical Regionalism and simple-minded attempts to revive the
hypothetical forms of a lost vernacular’. The term Critical Regionalism, in his view,
is reliant upon the deconstruction of the world culture. It is defined by place-form -
topography, context, climate, light, tactility and tectonic form. (Mallgrave and
Goodman 2011) All of which constitute the reasoning of both Murphy and Scarpa.
Essentially, though, it is the site which is the basis for the creation of an architecture
of place.
Architecture in Detail
In order to provide clarification of the modern – regionalist approach by Scarpa and
Murphy, this chapter provides a thorough exploration of their ideologies within
selected works. Modern regionalism, typically, can best be observed within the
contemporary development of an existing building. As such, to further convey the
rich dialogue between the architects, the selected works all fall within the spectrum
of ‘intervention’2
.
4.1 Site: Topography
If a building sits within its site, particularly where there are changes in the
topography, it immediately has a convincing contextual basis on which to further
develop the design. If the hypothetical site were to be entirely levelled out the idea
of place becomes practically obsolete. Kenneth Frampton (Foster1990) further
discusses this concept with reference to the Swiss architect, Mario Botta:
The bulldozing of an irregular topography into a flat site is clearly a technocratic
gesture which aspires to a condition of absolute placelessness…the terracing of
the same site to receive the stepped form of a building is an engagement in the act
of ‘cultivating’ the site. It evokes the method alluded to by Mario Botta as ‘building
the site’.
2 ‘Intervention’: in architecture, this is termed as the placement of a contemporary
insertion alongside or within an existing building.
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Richard Murphy’s Dundee Contemporary Arts Centre [DCA] completed in 1999, is
perhaps the most appropriate example of contention with topography. The L-shaped,
multi-function arts building contends with an eight metre fall between the entrance
level to the north and the rear of the building. There are five stories arranged within,
with only two levels evident upon entry from the north side. [Fig.3] Successful in its
subtleties, Richard Carr’s article entitled ‘Vertical Hold’ (1999) is apt: Murphy
utilises the stepped, exterior spatial conditions with a central ‘spill out’ space,
accessible from the café area within. This space is further stepped and wrapped
around the building to the lower level surrounding the university galleries. An
elegant public throughway from north to south is therefore permitted. Inside, Murphy
exploits the change in level with a dramatic staircase dominating the central public
entrance level; this further acts as an extension to the street outside, seamlessly
drawing the public into the depths of the building. [Fig.4] Carr (1999) suggests that
it is experience from working in ‘vertiginous Edinburgh’ which has permitted
Murphy’s subtle solution to the complex site. Further to this, Frampton ascertains
that:
The specific culture of a region becomes inscribed into the form and realisation of
the work…which arises out of ‘in-laying’ the building into the site. It has… the
capacity to embody, in built form, the prehistory of the place… and its subsequent
cultivation and transformation across time. Through this layering into the site the
idiosyncrasies of place find their expression without falling into sentimentality
(Foster 1990)
Certainly, Murphy’s delicate response to site establishes and expresses the
building’s appropriateness within its context.
Carlo Scarpa similarly adopts the approach of layering into the site. Working in
Venice however, where the city is very much a horizontal entity compared with the
verticality of the Scottish cities of Dundee and Edinburgh, Scarpa’s response differs.
Instead his is an approach to floor planes; maintaining the horizontality of the site.
Within his project for the renovation of the Querini Stampalia Foundation (1963), the
adjustment of various elements within the floor plane are a necessary geographical
response; designed to allow water from the adjacent canal to penetrate the building
in the event of potential flooding – the aqua alta. In the entrance area, the upper floor
plane maintains a raised border over which a lower floor stratum is visible:
essentially, a ‘moat’. ‘When there is a flood, the floor in this room consists of a
concrete plane, a layer of water, and a raised concrete slab covered with marble
mosaic.’ [Fig. 5, 6] (Shultz 2010) At once, Scarpa merges topographical strata with
material strata. His anticipation of changing conditions is evidence of the building’s
Fig. 3 Fig. 4
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unique characterisation as a direct response its geographical situation. Richard
Murphy (1993) himself describes the intention of Scarpa’s symbolism, of Venice’s
‘dominance’ of the waters.
In response to existing topographical conditions, whether through the extension of
floor planes or by way of Murphy’s vertical extrusions, this regional detailing
provides definition for the structure of space surrounding and pervading the
building.
Ultimately, the specificity of site is the primary dictator of the explicit and implicit
properties of route.
4.2 Threshold
Experiencing products of architecture involves movement. One passes from
outside to inside through the serial stages of a route… a place where one stops -
these may be called static places. But the pathway from one static place to another
is a place too – a dynamic place.
(Unwin 2009)
Architecture is entirely experiential. Buildings characterise the atmospheric
properties of a place. Significantly, they direct the flow of people. If one considers
the ‘street’ for example, it is entirely defined by the built environment. The expansion
and contraction of spaces is didactic; where tight alleyways lead to narrow lanes;
busy vehicular routes link to pedestrian boulevards. [Fig.7] Within this spatial
sequence transition is key. It is a necessary layer which permits cohesion. Where
architectural intervention is concerned, the creation of a transitional space is
fundamental in the evolution of the architectural language. A space between the new
and the old is simultaneously part of both, and part of neither. Crucially though, it
aids the integration between the conflicting elements. [Fig.8]
As human beings, the act of transition has an immense effect on the subjective
experience. This occurs both externally and internally. In the design of a building,
both are equally fundamental.
Architecturally, it is important to understand the prospective experiential qualities of
a space. There is always the contention, for example, with the unfamiliarity of a
place. It is in the care of the architect then, to ensure as much as is permitted, an
Fig. 5 Fig. 6
Fig. 8 Fig. 7
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‘openness’ within public buildings. Initially, this issue can be lessened with the
effective extension of what is, categorically, a familiar part of the public realm: the
street.
Importantly, a transitional space may often occur before entering a building –
typically, an entrance courtyard. However, this space may not necessarily be entirely
enclosed: simply an area which one steps off the street into the ‘realm’ of the
building. Certainly, Murphy often employs this tactic. His DCA, for instance, is
partially pulled back from the busyness of a main vehicular route into the city centre.
This simple move creates what is effectively a secondary pedestrian area, belonging
to the building: a ‘precinct’, which, as Murphy ascertains, gives ‘breathing space to
the street edge’. [Fig.9] (Weston et al 2001)
The idea of an entrance transitional space is not confined to the groundscape;
roofscape can also provide a similar experience: the use of canopy is a fundamental
transitional element. Employed, typically, as a response to climatic conditions, the
element also provides an extension of a building over the street. Edinburgh’s
Fruitmarket gallery is situated directly off a main street. The canopy is subtle, yet the
impression of precinct is still apparent. The scale of the DCA meanwhile, allows the
building to use both – as well as having a significant precinct, it also employs a
canopy over the main entrance. Each of these elements significantly increases the
dynamism of the ‘space between’.
Further to this, parallels can be drawn alongside Scarpa’s entrance space at the
Querini Stampalia.
Similarly to the Fruitmarket Gallery, the Querini Stampalia sits quietly in its context,
maintaining the likeness of the surrounding facades. The canalled system however,
is ever present; where Murphy’s galleries are concerned with the street, Scarpa is
concerned with the water. Indeed, the entrance to the building is quite special, and
certainly well defined: the threshold between street and building is made manifest
by an elegantly designed bridge. The Scarpa-esque detailing is an event in itself: it
signifies the crossing – literally and metaphorically – between old Venezia and the
Fig. 9
Fig.10 Fig.11
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unique Scarpa intervention. Frampton (1996) describes the bridge as a ‘fixed hinge’;
apt in its tectonic properties. Perhaps even more significantly, is the evident
appreciation of the horizontality of street meeting the abrupt verticality of the palace
façade. Subsequently, the considerable height difference between street and
building threshold dictates the asymmetrical camber of the bridge. (Murphy 1993)
As with any intervention project, there is a fine line between the creation of a
contemporary architectural language and the existing. Each is held in significant
juxtaposition with the other. Scarpa, typically, succeeds in clarifying the new
alongside the old. The fundamental bridge element respects the existing, but does
not replicate. As such, there is an entirely new and unique transitional experience –
enhanced by its apposition.
Thus far, the concept of threshold has been discussed with primary reference to the
properties of physical barriers. Further to this, materiality and light can also be
highly indicative of threshold.
4.3 Materiality
Concrete and time-bound, heterogeneous and particular, our feeling for place –
‘space humanised’ as the Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck defined it – is grounded in
our bodily experience of the world. It is therefore inescapably material.
(Weston 2008)
The properties and application of material within the works of Murphy and Scarpa are
of the utmost importance. Typically, the inherent materiality within their respective
regions further enriches their architectural palette. Within their separate narratives,
the tactile qualities of material are most significant; its visual and physical properties
fundamental in the evocation of the initial emotional response. Within his
publication De Architectura, Vitruvius asserts the three fundamental elements within
architecture; firmitas, utilitas and venustas3
. The significance of materiality within the
latter is profound.
In utilising the materials appropriated to a region, the architect is able to further
sustain a new architectural language alongside the existing. By way of innovation in
the application of material, the architect is able to develop his dialogue and as such
provide enrichment within its context. The advancement in technology, a benefit of
globalisation, permits this innovation. Contrary to this, Frampton (1996) upholds
the view that technology, as the maximisation of industrial production, excludes
3 ‘Firmitas, utilitas, venustas’ [Latin]: translation by Sir Henry Wotton; firmness,
commodity, delight Fig. 12 Fig. 13
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architecture as craft and as an act of place creation from the process. Within the
works of Murphy and Scarpa, this statement can be disproved. Inherent within their
work is the subtle integration of modern technologies as a means by which
innovation and revitalisation of tradition can be achieved.
Scarpa, particularly, had an affinity with the unconventional sculpting of material. He
immensely enjoyed the play of the perception of material. In the Querini Stampalia,
the stonework can be perceived at once as simple cladding and then as a kind of
wood. (Shultz 2010) The travertine, cut as a panel, is ingrained with the visual
properties appropriated to timber panelling. [Fig.15] For Scarpa, however, the real
masterstroke manifests itself within the articulation of material as a space defining
element.
As a systematic series of planes, there is at once a simplicity and complexity within
the architectural language. The complexities lie within the methodical arrangement
and application of material within the planarity of the building. Materiality is
ultimately the transposition of separation and cohesion within the building’s
vocabulary: roof, wall and floor plane. Each defined as separate entities, yet
described as part of the whole. [Fig.14]
In his work there pervades a disjunctive narrative in which what is, is always
accompanied by what has been and what might have been.(Frampton 1996)This
assertion by Frampton, determines the intrinsic, holistic ethos embedded within
Scarpa’s dialectical works.
Richard Weston (2008) describes the impact of challenging the natural climatic and
temporal filters with specific reference to the ‘white architecture of the International
Style4
’. Within this ‘style’ there existed a high maintenance demand in order to
sustain the intended pristine architectural image, unaffected by the course of time.
Conversely, both Murphy and Scarpa uphold a positive preoccupation with ‘time’ as
a tool with which they permit a natural evolution in a building’s dialogue. Key social
thinkers, John Ruskin and William Morris also shared this attitude. Morris,
particularly, argued that there should be clarity in the definition of what is new, and
what is old. (Weston 2008) Certainly, the stratification of elements facilitates this
clarification.
Murphy’s DCA is exemplary in adopting the principle of ‘layering the façade’. The
intervention with an existing brick warehouse is evident with the retention of its shell.
However, being largely a contemporary insertion, Murphy provides legibility
between the old and new through the literal separation of material. The historic brick
4 Weston refers to Le Corbusier’s ‘time defying aspirations’ of his Purist Villas.
Fig. 14 Fig. 15
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shell, pulled away from the contemporary pre-patinated copper cladding has the
resultant effect of one material slipping seamlessly past the other. Murphy’s
integrative approach allows the inclusion of white render as a mediator; softened by
the inherent tactility of the copper and brick. [Fig.16] Within this separation, there is
an honesty. Murphy clarifies the structural properties of the material, specifically,
the brick wall as an evident non loadbearing element.
Glass and steel are employed with the same intention and with equal success in
Murphy’s Fruitmarket Gallery. The existing stonework having been largely retained,
sustains the secondary layer of steel structure within which there is the integration of
a hoist and sliding glass screen. [Fig.17] Expression of structure, evident at a larger
scale within the works of Murphy, can similarly be observed in Scarpa’s detailing.
The bridge at the Querini Stampalia contains a dialogue almost entirely its own.
Initially, the purpose for what appears to be a ‘twin’ handrail is perplexing. However,
in recollection of Scarpa’s meticulous craftsmanship, the reasoning becomes
evident. Structural necessity dictates the form. The steel uprights configure the
fundamental handrail, while the adjoining teak and brass equivalent provides the
integral tactility required of such a device. 5
Where the two are connected the
junction is paramount. Pairs of steel flat bars conclude the composition, evidence of
Scarpa’s ‘adoration of the joint6
’. (Murphy 1993)
Inherent within the intervention projects as discussed, is the ability to provide a clear
distinction between the numerous strata, of which the ultimate sculptor is ‘light’.
Wholly ‘place specific’, the tonality of light in Venice differs entirely to that in
Scotland. However, the principles in utilising the element remain constant.
Typically, it signifies reassurance within the public domain. As such, it is often
employed as a guiding element through the depths of a building: a principle evident
in Murphy’s galleries. [Fig. 20, 21]
Light, in its ability to transform spatial perception, is the ultimate element which the
architect must master.
5 This same principle is evident also within the work of the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto;
his iconic leather-bound door handles specifically. (Weston 2008) 6 As Frampton (1996) so entitles his chapter on Scarpa.
Fig. 16 Fig. 17
Fig.18 Fig. 19
16
Designing a space is designing light. Without light there is no architecture.
Louis Kahn
Fig. 20 Fig. 21
17
Conclusion
Within the dialogue which exists between Richard Murphy and Carlo Scarpa, there is
an inherent linguistic cohesion between architect and place. Arguably, Scarpa was
one of the first regional-modernists. His architectural language is, typically, the
evolution of his great affinity with the city of Venice. Through his accentuation of the
idiosyncrasies within Venetian culture he was able to produce an architecture whose
relevance pervades time.
Scarpa’s ideologies, as such, embed themselves within contemporary architecture.
The principles within Murphy’s regionalist approach are evidence of this. Indeed, it
is the constant underlying factor of ‘place’ and subsequent regional specificities
which enable the existence of the vivid dialogue.
Regionalism within architecture, significantly, sustains the locale. It reasserts the
importance of cultural identity within our increasingly globalised world. Ultimately, it
sustains the diversity which formulates our global identity and world culture.
Ours is a world in which cultural divergences signify our exclusivity as a whole.
18
References
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Britain: The Architectural Press
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and Environmental Response. Oxford: Elsevier Ltd.
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1968 – Present. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
Massey, D. (1999) Space, Place and Gender. Minneapolis, US: University of
Minnesota Press
Murphy, R. (1997) The Work of Richard Murphy Architects: Buildings and Projects.
Richard Murphy Architects
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Else, S. Figures 8 and 9. Own diagrams.
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19
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20
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