TOMBA BRION-VEGA | San Vito D’Altivole | postwar concrete postscript

LOCATION: Via Brioni, 28, Altivole Treviso, Italy
ARCHITECT: Carlo Scarpa
DATES: 1969-1977

Site Visit: Mon June 16 2014

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For starters, the satisfaction of simply reaching this place is significant. Located in rather remote village outside of Venice, the Tomb is reached by means of a hearty combination of a 1 hr+ train, a 20 min walk, a 30 min bus (which only runs 4 times a day, aprox. every 3 hours), and then another 15 min walk. This all makes it feel like a tiny victory has been achieved as Scarpa’s concrete complex comes into view.

It bears mentioning that Carlo Scarpa’s work is quite distinct from much else featured in my research. Indeed, Scarpa is quite rarely considered a Brutalist – a label I would avoid placing on him myself. The delicacy of the details, the near-fussiness of the much of the hardware, and the rather overt decorative motifs all point to the fact that Scarpa’s concerns lay far outside those engaging more directly with Brutalism (or even orbiting more broadly around it). Nonetheless, there are powerful lessons to be learned from his work. And of particular relevance to my own research was his use of concrete.

The abundance of concrete at the Tomba Brion-Vega makes for robust and rather poetic case of study weathering; revealing how this one single material aged under a number of different installations. And the spectrum here is vast. The most exposed (and horizontal) surfaces develop a dark, rich, mottled patina that rather resembles the granite stone used on the tombs in the Arcosolium. This diversity of finish conditions achieved over time lend a different character to the variety of spaces. This dark, speckled finish on the exposed parts give way to a lighter, monochromatic and flatter concrete in the more covered, interior “rooms” of the project.