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Brion Tomb, Carlo Scarpa- San Vito d'Altivole, Italy, May 2024
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The "place" I found had the largest impact on me during our travels was Brion Tomb, a project that I have known about and loved for a while now. I was so excited to visit this site that I even noticed myself getting nervous as we got closer to getting there. Since we visited, I have honestly had a hard time even reflecting much on our day here, so bear with me. I think initially arriving and getting my first look at everything was such an out of body experience for me that it took me at least an hour to really be able to focus, think, sketch, really notice things, etc. Once I did, though, I noticed so much that I hadn't before in all the semesters looking to this project for guidance.
For one, it was really interesting to actually perceive the scale and location of each individual piece, which once I was actually at Brion, I realized I did not have a great grasp on from all the photos I had seen. Especially when it came to the pavilion, I never noticed how different your experience is on that side of the site than the other, and from either turning left or right after you enter. Everything you experience to the right of the rings feels alive and blissful and serene, while everything to the left, particularly the two burial sites, has a bittersweet, overwhelming connotation. Not to mention the chapel, which also had a different feeling entirely. I just never picked up on the drastic change in atmosphere in my prior research.
Another thing I observed from my visit was the odd balance between everything being perfect and also feeling unfinished at the same time. This is not something I had expected to notice, as a lot of this observation came from the insider details our tour guide told us about. For example, she mentioned that the tomb was meant to be filled with a shallow pool of water so that one could not actually step underneath it, which, architecturally, would have made the design much stronger. However, the tomb is not filled with water, which we later learned was requested by the wife who is now buried there. She died 30 years after her husband, so for that time, she wanted to be able to access his grave. Many instances like this, often pertaining to water, or the lack of, challenged my thinking a lot. At first, I struggled to make sense of the fact that Scarpa had more in mind for Brion Tomb, and that these things could have been easily executed from his drawings. Some of them certainly would have driven home the poetry of the concept, yet in a way, I can see why they didn't feel right to complete after his and/or the wife's passing. It felt almost as if Brion was frozen in time, in such a way that you are purposefully made to feel that something is missing, which I think is quite successful.
After we visited, I couldn't stop wishing that we had gone before we had been given the submarine memorial project. Brion completely changed my perspective on what it means to design for a subject of that magnitude. I remember being really stressed in the concept phase of that project, not really understanding how to make a space that was welcoming to all types of visitors, who would have a wide range of connection to the people being memorialized. I think in the end, I didn't make enough of a decision, and my project was left without a special element that fostered strong emotional connection, which is something the jurors noted. At Brion, I experienced how architecture could do that successfully. I noticed many of my peers were interested in detail and really into sketching. Some were quite drawn to the pavilion, or the "happier side" of things, while others were drawn to the grave sites (me included). Most people seemed to be less affected emotionally, while I was completely awestruck and nostalgic. I'm still trying to piece together what of Scarpa's design allowed for that range of reactions. I know a part of his concept had to do with encouraging reflection on one's own life and soul, and that his sense of control displayed through water and form represented much of that idea. I am still piecing that one together, I think, but I do feel like there is something for me to learn from that connection I made.
I have no doubt that Brion Tomb will continue to influence my designs, but even more so, I hope that I will be reminded of my experience there and the power space has in creating or evoking certain emotions. I think I had lost that effect in my work this past semester, or at least didn't quite succeed at it in the end, and now I am really hopeful to have it back.
For one, it was really interesting to actually perceive the scale and location of each individual piece, which once I was actually at Brion, I realized I did not have a great grasp on from all the photos I had seen. Especially when it came to the pavilion, I never noticed how different your experience is on that side of the site than the other, and from either turning left or right after you enter. Everything you experience to the right of the rings feels alive and blissful and serene, while everything to the left, particularly the two burial sites, has a bittersweet, overwhelming connotation. Not to mention the chapel, which also had a different feeling entirely. I just never picked up on the drastic change in atmosphere in my prior research.
Another thing I observed from my visit was the odd balance between everything being perfect and also feeling unfinished at the same time. This is not something I had expected to notice, as a lot of this observation came from the insider details our tour guide told us about. For example, she mentioned that the tomb was meant to be filled with a shallow pool of water so that one could not actually step underneath it, which, architecturally, would have made the design much stronger. However, the tomb is not filled with water, which we later learned was requested by the wife who is now buried there. She died 30 years after her husband, so for that time, she wanted to be able to access his grave. Many instances like this, often pertaining to water, or the lack of, challenged my thinking a lot. At first, I struggled to make sense of the fact that Scarpa had more in mind for Brion Tomb, and that these things could have been easily executed from his drawings. Some of them certainly would have driven home the poetry of the concept, yet in a way, I can see why they didn't feel right to complete after his and/or the wife's passing. It felt almost as if Brion was frozen in time, in such a way that you are purposefully made to feel that something is missing, which I think is quite successful.
After we visited, I couldn't stop wishing that we had gone before we had been given the submarine memorial project. Brion completely changed my perspective on what it means to design for a subject of that magnitude. I remember being really stressed in the concept phase of that project, not really understanding how to make a space that was welcoming to all types of visitors, who would have a wide range of connection to the people being memorialized. I think in the end, I didn't make enough of a decision, and my project was left without a special element that fostered strong emotional connection, which is something the jurors noted. At Brion, I experienced how architecture could do that successfully. I noticed many of my peers were interested in detail and really into sketching. Some were quite drawn to the pavilion, or the "happier side" of things, while others were drawn to the grave sites (me included). Most people seemed to be less affected emotionally, while I was completely awestruck and nostalgic. I'm still trying to piece together what of Scarpa's design allowed for that range of reactions. I know a part of his concept had to do with encouraging reflection on one's own life and soul, and that his sense of control displayed through water and form represented much of that idea. I am still piecing that one together, I think, but I do feel like there is something for me to learn from that connection I made.
I have no doubt that Brion Tomb will continue to influence my designs, but even more so, I hope that I will be reminded of my experience there and the power space has in creating or evoking certain emotions. I think I had lost that effect in my work this past semester, or at least didn't quite succeed at it in the end, and now I am really hopeful to have it back.