Thursday, September 11, 2008

Contemporary Architecture and urban context


There is a local Pasadena issue that's creating a conflict in the community regarding appropriate design for a property expansion in the City Center. It's the proposed expansion for All Saints Church, next to the City Hall. My discussion emphasizing the need for a vision as an opportunity for a design response is posted here.

New structures are commonly integrated into existing structures (ruins!) in Europe, but they respect the prior construction/design and "knit together" the old and the new contemporary design vocabulary. An example is Carlo Scarpa's Castelvecchio restoration/addition in Verona. I've been there twice now, have a lot of resource books on the guy, have been to almost all of his structures in Italy.

http://www.veronissima.com/sito_inglese/html/tour-museums-castelvecchio-scarpa.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castelvecchio_Museum

My photos: