architecture

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti

Located along the Grand Canal in Venice is the Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti. Now housing the Venetian Institute of science, letters and arts, the palace started life in 1565 with many renovations since.
Like many of the palaces facing the Grand Canal, the main rooms are on the upper floors facing the canal providing beautiful views, seen in the room above. Notice the Venetian glass chandelier.
The palace is most known for is grand stairway built for Baron Franchetti in the 1880s by architect Camillo Boito. Boito was one of the preeminent architectural historians and restorationists of the day, chartering the modern historic restoration movement.While the Australian (who was kind enough to share these pictures) was in Venice, the Bienalli was taking place and the palace housed the glass exhibition, seen in part in the stairway above.

Designed in rich Venetian Gothic style, the house is characteristically rather over the top and ornamental: what we expect most in Venetian style.
As in all Venetian Palazzo's, the house fronts the canal with a courtyard or garden behind. I love this ornamental grille work.The palace has a rare side garden facing the canal which during the Bienalli housed a strange house called the Narrow House.Designed by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm as a reconstruction of his childhood house but squished to scale to only 1 meter wide to reflect the crowded conditions in Venice and the tricks our mind plays on our memory.


And I'm showing this because it's just amazing the detail that Wurm went to, but I promise you it's the only toilet you will ever see on ArchitectDesign!
Top photo of the Palazzo from Wikipedia, all others from the Australian.

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