Querini Stampalia Bridge
The museum Querini Stampalia is a historical sixteenth century building, formerly inhabited by a patriarch of Venice and embellished by stucco and frescoes. The museum on the second floor, preserves one of the richest art collections of the lagoon city with over four hundred paintings from the nineteenth century. In 1961 Carlo Scarpa was commissioned to do the restoration of the ground-floor and and garden at the rear of the building that was in a state of extreme neglect and degradation. He rearranged the garden for use as an gallery and exhibition space, as the ground floor was frequently unusable due to the overflow of seawater at high tide. The bridge forms a new access to the museum. The project was built over ten years , under the direction of Joseph Mazzariol, friend and supporter of the Venetian master. The project incorporates the inevitable water overflow as a fundamental design element in a very ingenious way.