Week 7 Task

PART 1: Do some research on your selected architect / artist / designer to determine what they might look for in the design of a home for themselves.

Can you find any information on family?

• Brother Andrea, who introduced him to Latin and the ancient civilisation 
• Uncle Matteo Lucchesi (a Venetian engineer who specialised in excavation) mentored Piranesi as an architect 

What about their cultural roots?

• Born in Mogliano, Veneto (then part of the Republic of Venice) 
• Lived in Rome from 1740, with 
• Studied under Giuseppe Vasi who introduced him to the art of etching and engraving 
• In the 1740’s he collaborated with his (French Academy in Rome) colleagues, producing varying perspectives of the city (Prima parte di Architettura e Prospecttive in 1743, and Varie Vedute di Roma Antica e Moderna in 1745) 
• 1743-1747 lived in Venice 
• 1748 returned to Rome – opened a workshop in Via del Corso and devoted himself to the measurement of ancient edifices 
• 1761 became a member of the Accademia di San Luca, opening his own printing facility 
• 1763 commissioned by Pope Clement XIII to restore the choir of San Giovanni in Laterano 
• 1764 started solo architectural work – restored a church of Santa Maria del Priorato in the Villa of the Knights of Malta in Rome (buried here) 
• 1767 created a knight of the Golden Spur 
• 1769 created Piranesi Vase – best known for his work as restorer of ancient sculpture (derived from interest in ancient artefacts) 
• 1777-78 published a collection of views from Paestum 

What can you say about their design style? (analysing Carceri only)

• Style influenced Romanticism and Surrealism 
• Doesn’t focus on the ‘beauty of the sunlit place’ 
• Kafkaesque*, Escher*-like distortion, labyrinthian structures, epic volume 
• Described as ‘monumental architecture in ruin’ 
• Series started in 1745 – living in Venice at the time, and publicised in 1750 – workshop erected and interest in ancient edifices realised 
• Thomas De Quincey in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1820) wrote “the scenery of his own visions during the delirium of a fever…representing vast Gothic halls, on the floor of which stood all sorts of engines and machinery…the walls you perceived a staircase, and upon it…Piranesi himself.”

PART 2: BRIEF

Design a living space for Piranesi, and brother Andrea. There will be small guesthouse attached for Uncle Matteo. It will display various neo-classical and kafkaesque, Escher-like features, as well as early Romantic, Baroque and Surreal qualities. It will be monumental in size, but extremely private and enclosed; only small portions of the structure will be sunlit. The style living will be fit by Venetian standards. The space will feature ancient edifices, labyrinthian structures, as well as centrepieces not dissimilar to Piranesi’s Vase.


Overall details include:

1 x Master Bedroom with Ensuite

1 x Bedroom with Ensuite

1 x Kitchen

1 x Library

1 x Pool

1 x Courtyard

1 x Gallery Space

1 x Small Guest House (Double Bedroom with Ensuite)

2 x Working Spaces, 1 sunlit and 1 enclosed


Specifics:

Master Bedroom will be detailed in varying European styles. Extremely surreal and grandiose in size and style.

Bedroom will be decorated in strictly Venetian style.

Kitchen will be underdeveloped, not modern or high-tech, just basic appliances and simple (if any) electronics.

Library will be extensive, but limited to ancient styles/forms and history, art history, art styles, architecture styles, home decorations (vases, centrepieces). Predominantly Latin and Italian literature.

Pool will be Romanic in style, as will the courtyard. Very European, decorated in a neo-classical and even classical style. Ancient decoration present.

Guest house will also be decorated in a Venetian style, but more specific to the Baroque period of Art.

Working spaces very specific to Piranesi’s practice, littered with etching utensils.

Gallery displaying all work by Piranesi, including early works done with art school colleagues.

Staircases prominent.


*SEE ALSO: Frank Kafka, M.C. Escher