Olivetti Showroom in St. Mark's Square
TELEFONO E FAX: 041-5228387
WEBSITE: www.fondoambiente.it
LOCATION: Piazza San Marco 101 – Procuratie Vecchie – Venezia
One of the wonderful creations of Carlo Scarpa in Venice: the Olivetti store in St. Mark Square.
Under the arcades of St Mark's Square you find the Olivetti Showroom, designed by Carlo Scarpa in 1957-58 it's one of the most remarkable examples of the XX century Italian architecture. Recently restored, the Showroom has been entrusted to FAI, the Italian Environmental Foundation, which has finally opened it to the public again. In the late 1950s Carlo Scarpa was commissioned by Andrea Olivetti to create a splendid and modern showcase for the typewriters and calculators produced in the famous company of Ivrea. It resulted this jewel of architecture. In 1997 Olivetti closed its prestigious store and the following year a souvenir shop was opened here until 2011, when the FAI obtained his concession and re-opened the bulding to the public giving the opportunity to admire his beauty once again. Today, the masterpiece of Carlo Scarpa is a museum for itself. The genius of the architect is reflected in each part of the building: the use of the spaces, the attention to interior transparencies, the central stairs that seems to float in the empty space, the coloured mosaic tiles on the floor and so on. Another significant feature of the Olivetti Showroom is a large sculpture, “Nudo al Sole”by Alberto Viani, near the front entrance. To admire inside the Showroom also a precious collection of ancient typewriters and calculators which has been given to Fai by Olivetti and has permitted to restore the original function of the recognized historical building defined as 'one of the brightest pages in twentieth-century Italian architecture'.location
