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April 14, 2008
Visibile Cities
Yesterday I visited Tommaso Buzzi's la Scarzuolo - a model city? An ideal city? A Theosophist dream? A folly? Maybe all those, but maybe more.
I have a friend in Rome who is a specialist in 20th Century architecture and is working on a book about Buzzi - he organized a quick trip up to see this amazing place in Umbria (and supper - supper was pretty splendid in itself).
Buzzi was a big-time inter-war architect, born near Milan, worked for lots of elite clients. According to my friend Sandro, he worked for Gio Ponte until the early 1930s then broke with him, but had enough wealthy folks who liked his style that he never suffered. Sandro, of course, wants to see him as an antifascist. After seeing la Scarzuolo I think he was just - um - hermetic. Odd?
This is an amazing site - absolutely stunning. The lines of sight are very carefully planned so that every corner is a revelation of near and far, large and small.
Buzzi bought (or got?) a ruined Franciscan convent called Santa Maria del Scarzuolo in 1959 and started fiddling. He died in 1981, but a nephew has the property now, including the Buzzi archives (I saw some sketches - could that man draw! yikes!) and adds things to fulfill the plan.
Near Montegabbione in Umbria.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at April 14, 2008 7:02 PM
Comments
What is the scale in the picture? This sounds funny, but the picture makes me think of the Ave Maria Grotto, Cullman, AL. Well, it does.
.....It is very much like that - only a dream rather than a reality. Look for steps - the're step-sized. All the doors are kind of short, in a Frank Lloyd Wright way; I'm told Buzzi was short himself, and expected other folks to put up with it. --MCT
Posted by: JSTB at April 14, 2008 8:48 PM