Walking under the porticos of the Procuratorie Vecchie in the direction of the Ala Napoleonica in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, at a certain point one comes across a small corner room that stands out for its aesthetic and functional diversity: this is the Negozio Olivetti, designed by Carlo Scarpa.
The Negozio Olivetti in Venice was built at the behest of Adriano Olivetti, who saw this space as the ideal place to convey the cultural values of his company and to display his famous office supplies. Adriano Olivetti did not want a simple shop: he wanted a unique, modern environment where novelty and innovation could coexist while respecting the surrounding historical environment, at the same time giving prestige to the company. To do this, in 1957 he entrusted the fitting out of the shop to the great architect Carlo Scarpa who was able, thanks to his undisputed genius, to give form to the ideals of his client: he reorganised the narrow premises recovering, by means of an effective articulation of the spaces, the volumes that make up the environment, he allowed the various decorative elements to dialogue with each other and to put the new internal premises in communion with the ancient beauty of the external monuments thanks to the skilful use of transparencies and materials.
The result is an exceptional balance between functionality, elegance and originality, which has its fulcrum in the airy hall on the ground floor, introduced by a refined marble fountain with the beautiful sculpture ‘Nude in the Sun’ by Alberto Viani.
Of great visual impact is the central staircase, a masterpiece of lightness and dynamism, which provides access to the upper floor of the Negozio Olivetti di Venezia, where the historic Olivetti typewriters and calculating machines are on display.
Scarpa created floors for the various rooms that make up the Negozio Olivetti in Venice, featuring quadrangular tiles of marble and Murano glass in white, red, yellow and blue, the primary colours combined with white.
After years of neglect, thanks to Assicurazioni Generali and the careful restoration work carried out by the Fondo Ambiente Italiano, the Negozio Olivetti designed by Carlo Scarpa was reopened to the public on 20 April 2011 and today its conservation and enhancement are entrusted to the FAI.
