Glassworks by Architect Carlo Scarpa on Display in Venice

Italian glassmaking hit a colorful stride when architect Carlo Scarpa presided over glass powerhouse Venini from 1932 to 1947. Born in Venice, Scarpa trained in the Royal Aacdemy of Fine Arts, and then taught architectural drawing there, even though he never officially completed an architectural-education course. That’s OK, because he went on to direct Venini glassworks in the early ’30s, using his design education for glassmaking good (at least until he retired to focus on architecture in at the end of World War II). Scarpa’s research into material, colors, and techniques helped push the field forward and create new working procedures. Over 300 of Scarpa’s pieces, organized by technique, are now on display in Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932–1947, at the newly opened exhibition space at Le Stanze Del Vetro (“Rooms for Glass”), an institute devoted to studying 20th- and 21st-century glassmaking. Through Nov. 2012. • lestanzedelvetro.it