Comune di Verona

I MUV – I MUSEI DI VERONA



Regione Veneto
Regione Veneto
CONSULT THE CATALOG
Archivio Carlo Scarpa Museo di Castelvecchio

THE PROJECT

The project

The project

Given the central role of the figure of Carlo Scarpa (Venice 1906 – Sendai 1978) in the panorama of contemporary architecture, in 2002 the Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities and the Veneto Region established a joint Carlo Scarpa Committee.  This committee was aimed at promoting the understanding, preservation, and enhancement of the architect’s work.

The Veneto Region allocated significant resources to an integrated set of initiatives promoted and supported by the Joint Committee. These initiatives included investigative studies, the survey, and the restoration of a group of Scarpa’s buildings, including the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona, and a systematic campaign to acquire drawings in private collections and from artisans. These drawings were then deposited at the Castelvecchio Museum for conservation and enhancement purposes, adding to the initial collection of the master’s drawings related to the restoration and revising of the Verona Museum. This graphic corpus composes the current digital archive.

The numerous donations from private individuals, including Richard Murphy’s historical ink reliefs on tracing paper, the numerous structural drawings by engineer Renato Scarazzai regarding the Banca Popolare di Verona, and the projects for the layout of the Brusarosco Palace in Vicenza preserved by the heirs of Ettore Gallo, are direct evidence of the role that the Castelvecchio Museum and the Scarpa Archive have gained over the years and of the complex studies and interests generated.

To further complete the picture of information on Scarpa’s work in Verona, the Archive has virtually included the drawings relating to Ottolenghi House and the Banca Popolare di Verona (owned by the MAXXI Foundation and preserved at the State Archives in Treviso), along with those from the Anfodillo carpentries in Venice (kept at the MAK in Vienna), as well as those on the production of furniture for Gavina from the private archive of Sandro Bagnoli. Finally, PDF plates of reliefs of the master’s Venetian projects have been collected.

The Archive also holds a photographic collection of historical and construction site images catalogued by the Andrea Palladio International Center for Architectural Studies, which has created a photo library of the architect’s works, including a collection of historical photos, and a new photographic campaign. and a project for a video library featuring interviews with clients, collaborators, interlocutors, and executors.

Prospects are aimed at further opening the Archives to the outside world, welcoming donations from architects who wish to leave a ‘trace’ of their work, following the legacy of architect Ferruccio Franzoia in 2022. His donation, presented in an exhibition in the Boggian Hall with its graphic archive, highlighted the originality of his design work, that matured under the influence of Carlo Scarpa.

Digitalisation

The digitalisation was realised with the objective of substituting the originals – mostly made on very fragile paper support – for consultation and reproduction purposes, for print reproduction in up to 1:1 scale.
The acquisition resolution was set at 300 PPI, with a colour depth of 24 bit (8 bit per R-G-B channel).

In consideration of the dimensions of the originals (up to 180 cm in length) and of the acquisition resolution, the ideal choice was the use of digital cameras with digital scan backs, or equivalent systems, equipped with a tri-linear CCD sensor that carries out the scanning of the focal plane in large format.

To avoid geometric distortion in the images taken, and to simplify the maintenance of the parallel relationship between the focal plane and original to be digitalised, the shots were taken from a zenith position, while the application of two perpendicular metric scales and target Kodak Color Separation Guides and Gray Scale Q13 constituted the central point of the system of control of metric and chromatic fidelity.

An illumination system with cold light, without IR or UV, was utilised.
The master files were saved in non-compressed TIFF format with ICC colour profile incorporated. For purposes of consultation, cataloguing, and monitor analysis JPG images were also produced from the master images, with lossy-type compression.

Requisites for digitalization:

  • 300 PPI on the size of the original, without use of montage
  • Colour depth 24 bit RGB
  • Parallel relationship between the focal plane and the original
  • Chromatic fidelity: juxtapostion of colour guides, in colour and in grey scale
  • Metric fidelity: juxtaposition of metric scales in two directions

Digitalisation

Cataloguing

Cataloguing

For the cataloguing of the drawings and photos the ICCD (Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione) standard provided for in the ministerial regulations has been used. The minimal necessary changes were made to the OA-D and F entry format: in particular, lists of vocabulary terms were defined to describe both the modern materials of the supports and the specific techniques used in graphic representation and tracing.

Partner

  • Soprintendenza per i Beni Architettonici,
    per il Paesaggio e per il Patrimonio Storico,
    Artistico e Demoetnoantropologico di Venezia e Laguna

Partner