Carlo Scarpa. Lectures

17 previously unseen charcoal sketches by Carlo Scarpa and an extract of the recordings of his lectures at the IUAV in Venice from 1974 to 1976 are the focus of an exhibition curated by Franca Semi and dedicated by MAXXI to the great Italian architect, an anomalous professor, who despite having left us an extremely rich graphic archive, never published anything in written form.

The exhibition investigates the relationship between sign and word, with the rare opportunity to listen to the recorded voice of Scarpa commenting on his work. Franca Semi, curator of the exhibition and Scarpa’s assistant at the IUAV, recorded his lectures and collected a number of large format drawings he made for didactic purposes: in black charcoal on paper, they constitute a self-critical document by Scarpa regarding the design and realisation of a number of his works.

Alongside the drawings, the exhibition also feature Carlo Scarpa. A lesson in architecture: a documentary produced by MAXXI Architecture in which texts, comments and contemporary images accompany an interview given by Scarpa to RAI in 1972 in which he talks about the significance of his way of being an architect. The exhibition will also feature further previously unpublished sketches, that emerged thanks to the Caffè Florian in Venice, contained in a notebook, for an unknown and never realised project: a IUAV building, Palazzo Tron.

Carlo Scarpa
Lectures
Kurator: Franca Semi